Did you listen to Friday’s post on whale stranding?
Another 240 pilot whales stranded in Golden Bay yesterday evening. Most of them were helped to swim out to sea again. However, they are still in the Farewell Spit area so are not yet safe.
More than 500 volunteers worked to save both this pod of whales and the first pod which stranded on Thursday. It was an emotional experience for many of them, especially for those helping with baby whales and their mothers. Whales make a kind of whistle noise when they are distressed and that was upsetting for volunteers too.
It was also hard and cold work for many hours. Staff from DoC (Department of Conservation) and volunteers from Project Jonah reminded people to keep away from the whale’s blowhole because the whale could blow out bacteria but also because the blowhole was necessary for breathing.
But there are now about 300 dead whales to deal with. DoC (the Department of Conservation) does not want them to float out to sea but it is very difficult to bury so many whales.
Why do whales strand? There are a number of theories. One is that the shallow water around Farewell Spit tricks them but whales have good echo-location signals so this should not be a problem. Another theory is based on the idea that they are social animals and if one whale is sick and heads towards land, they all follow. DoC has taken samples of tissue from dead whales to test to see if they can discover more information about the health of these whales.
Project Jonah is a charity which is interested in saving marine mammals.
Vocabulary
• distressed (adj) – upset, very unhappy
• upsetting (adj) – distressed
• bury (v) – dig a hole and bury them underground
• shallow (adj) -opposite of ‘deep’
• echo-location signals – whales do not get lost, they can tell when they are in deep or shallow water
• tissue from a whale – a bit of the meat