Only one week after 45 pilot whales died in a mass stranding in Indonesia, another pod of long-finned pilot whales stranded on Farewell Spit in New Zealand. Roughly 55 of the marine mammals were discovered ashore on Monday morning. More than 60 locals quickly came together to protect the whales from the sun and keep them cool until the tide came back in. Supported by Project Jonah, a human chain was formed to slowly refloat the pod in unison to keep them from restranding. Though nine animals died early after the stranding, the remaining 48 whales were successfully herded back into deeper water.
However, the pod struggled heavily against the tide and did not seem motivated to return to the sea. Volunteers rushed back in when they found the whales back in shallow water by the next morning with another 17 dead. The leftover 28 were again corralled back into deeper water, this time with seemingly more success. So far, the whales were not seen again and no further strandings have been recorded.
A detailed report on the volunteer effort and the human chain can be found here: Human chain of 150 volunteers guide 40 stranded pilot whales back to sea | Stuff.co.nz
An article on the full event has been summarized here: Rescuers in New Zealand manage to refloat some 28 beached pilot whales — MercoPress
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