Over 100 Whales Stranded on New Zealand Beach
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 21:55 CST
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Hundreds of volunteers, including tourists, struggled on Wednesday to save around 120 pilot whales stranded on a beach at the top of New Zealand's South Island.
In New Zealand's biggest whale beaching in 12 years, 19 whales had died since the pod were stranded on Tuesday on Puponga Beach, about 150 km (93 miles) northwest of the city of Nelson, local media reported.
Volunteers washed the whales with water, trying to keep them cool and prevent their skin drying out. They hoped to try and refloat the whales, some five meters (15 feet) long, on the next high tide, around 2 p.m. (0100 GMT).
Conservation ranger Simon Walls said no one knew how the pod had got stranded, but it had occurred in the area in the past.
"The shallow shelving beach, the spit and the configuration of headlands seems to cause navigation problems for them. These conditions seem to trigger strandings," Walls told the Nelson Evening Mail newspaper.
Source: REUTERS
Related Articles
- Experts Blame Whale Beachings On Climate Change
- NYC Whale Beaches Itself, Dies Suddenly
- Baby Killer Whale Beached in Mexico
- 12 Whales Beached on Galapagos Islands
- Scores of Stranded Whales Rescued Off New Zealand
- Scores of stranded whales refloated off New Zealand
- Navy Moving Ahead With Sonar Range Proposal
- Scores of Whales Stranded on Australian Beach
- Oceans Getting Louder; Effects Unclear
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds