It all started when a Cuvier’s beaked whale stranded near Whananaki on Northland’s eastern shore. By the time the Department of Conservation staff had arrived at the scene, the animal was already dead. Nevertheless, the situation “became a natural history lesson for pupils at Whananaki School who learned a lot about whales and strandings during the rescue operation”.
In the evening, four pygmy whales were reported on Waipu beach. Since pygmy whales only measure about 2.5 metres in length, volunteers were able to keep them from beaching all the way. While one whale had to be euthanized right away, the other three could be refloated. The next morning, however, a group of surf live savers and volunteers found two of the animals stranded on the same beach again. After an unsuccessful refloating attempt, the DoC staff proclaimed the pair too ill and stressed out to survive, thus opting for an euthanization.
A DoC spokesperson explained that the local iwi will have the decision whether the whales will be buried or passed on for research.
You can find the article about the pygmy whales here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12315271
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