Around 400 whales or more had swum to a remote New Zealand beach in one of the tragic happenings of 2017. More than 275 of the whales were already dead when they were found on Friday early morning.
Thanks to the quick response of hundreds of farmers, tourists and teenagers around the beach, more than 140 whales were assured to be alive.
This was the third worst whale stranding in New Zealand. The largest stranding was in 1918, when around 1000 whales showed up on the Chatham Islands. In 1985 around 450 whales were stranded in Auckland.
A local magazine writer and editor, said “You could hear the sounds of splashing, of blowholes being cleared, of sighing. The young ones were the worst. Crying is the only way to describe it."
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Volunteers from Project Jonah said that the exact amount of whales were 416 that were left stranded on the beach. With the help of high tide, volunteers were able to re-float 50 of the surviving whales. According to the Department of Conservation about 500 volunteers helped the conservation workers on the beach.
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The reason for such a disaster can be the Farewell Spit at the end of South Island. This spit is a sliver of sand in the Tasmanian Sea and acts as a whale trap. This spit makes it difficult for whales to make their way, once they get in.
New Zealand is one of those places where one of the highest number of whale stranding occurs.
Image Credit: Tim Cuff/AP