Bid to save pilot whales

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 1

Bid to save pilot whales

By

BARRY SIMPSON

in Nelson About 200 pilot whales which beached themselves at Pakawau, Golden Bay, on Saturday evening, were rescued by residents and visitors yesterday.

Some 300 whales — also known as black fish — came ashore with the high tide on Saturday evening. They were not seen until about 7 a.m. yesterday, by which time many had died. A rescue by residents, visitors to the area and staff of the Ministry of Fisheries was started.

Working against time — high tide at Pakawau yesterday was about 10 a.m. — the rescuers manhandled about 200 of. the mammals back into deeper water where they were herded by boats into small groups and moved out to sea. A total of 108 were left on the beach — including five bottle-nosed dolphins. Constable Tony Cunningham, of Takaka, said it appeared that some of the whales were sick and it was presumed that the others were trying to get them close to shore. “They were most sup-

portive, just touching those who appeared sick,” he said. “We tried to keep them out but they wouldn’t take any notice of the boats.”

Constable Cunningham praised the efforts of the rescuers.

Many of the bigger mammals were at least six metres long and weighed more than a tonne. ■ •

When the tide ebbed yesterday those left on the beach were dead or nearly so. It is not unusual for pilot whales to beach themselves in the area.

Many did so about two years ago and there have been incidents of beaching and up to 300 deaths in the 19605. When the tide receded yesterday, bulldozers and front-end loaders removed the dead whales. They were buried in paddocks near the beach.