Last two whales may have to be shot, say rescuers

Rescuers say they are not confident two whales stranded on a Coromandel beach since Sunday night can be saved.

They are the last of a group of more than 70 which came ashore on Opoutere Beach, north of Whangamata, on the Coromandel Peninsula. More than 50 died.

If they cannot be saved they will be shot.

Originally three whales remained stranded and they were being held in channels dug by a digger in time for high tide.

Rescuers were staying with the whales and waiting in the hope that they could regain their strength after lying on the beach since Sunday night.

"They are in the water and are being held and it is just trying to see if they have got the ability and capacity to get going again. If that doesn't work they will be euthanised," Department of Conservation Hauraki area manager John Gaukrodger said.

By midday one of the three whales had recovered and had swum strongly out to sea but the other two were still in trouble, Mr Gaukrodger said.

He said they were being held afloat by rescuers and the tide was no longer the issue.

"It is not looking good. They don't seem to be recovering their equilibrium to get them going again."

He said they may have been too stressed and damaged from their time on the beach to fully recover.

Mr Gaukrodger said the rescuers believed the two remaining whales had a chance but if they had not recovered by mid afternoon they would probably be shot.

"If they don't make it within that time they are likely to end up re-stranding and we are better to deal with them and put them out of their misery ourselves."

He said the whale which had swum out to sea appeared to have recovered and was swimming strongly as it was tracked for some distance by DOC staff in a small boat.

It just kept on going. We are very confident it is well and on its way."

The other 18 whales which were returned to the sea overnight were not sighted during a helicopter flight over the coast.

Beached whales often had internal damage and after refloating could return to the beach to die.

The digger brought in by DOC was digging graves on the beach for the dead whales.

Mr Gaukrodger earlier said there was no sign of the refloated whales this morning but two boats were constantly patrolling the area in case any tried to return to the beach.

"You can have a few problems with sick ones trying to bring their mates in to the beach," he said.

Mr Gaukrodger said a suitable site to bury the dead whales had been found.

"There's a lot of middens around the area so they can't bury them anywhere."

He said the pilot whales did not have any value in terms of "cultural harvest" and would be buried whole after a karakia (prayer).

The Coromandel stranding comes just days after two mass strandings in Australia.

On Sunday 73 whales and 25 dolphins died after becoming beached on King Island in Bass Strait.

A further 19 long-finned pilot whales died after running ashore on the beach at Darlington Bay yesterday morning while rescuers returned 23 to the water.

- NZPA