Today, 21 dead pilot whales were buried on a beach near the town of Coromandel. Another 42 whales managed to swim back out to sea.
63 whales were stranded on the beach about 6am this morning. Most of them were female whales with babies. By the time the Department of Conservation (Doc) staff arrived at 8am, 20 whales were dead already. About 500 people, who were on holiday in this area, helped to save the other whales. They used buckets of water, wet blankets and sheets to keep the whales wet and comfortable. It was a cloudy day and that helped also. At high tide in the afternoon, people managed to push the whales back out to sea. A few minutes after they were swimming in the sea, one female whale gave birth to a baby.
No one really understands why whales get stranded but it is very common in New Zealand, especially in shallow water. This beach was in a sandy, shallow bay.
On Saturday, 105 pilot whales died at Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island. Farewell Spit is a narrow, sandy strip of land with shallow water on each side. Nobody lives there. A pilot in a tourist plane saw the whales but by the time Doc staff got there, it was too late. They had been out of the water too long.