Emotional Whale Burial
Posted on 24 August 2010 by LynThomas in Uncategorized
Crews with bulldozers buried 49 pilot whales in sand dunes on the isolated storm-tossed white sands of the northern New Zealand Karikari Beach.
The tranquilized survivors were transported by trailers and trucks to nearby Waikato Beach where the sea conditions were a little calmer. Wetsuit-clad rescuers successfully returned 13 of them to sea, but expected more deaths.
Once the whales were moved, they were positioned to face the sea, Mike Davies, CoD manager said. They were held in the water for at least half an hour to reorient themselves, before being released to swim back out to sea.
The survivors were monitored, but four of the refloated whales were euthanized after they beached again. Authorities chose to put the distressed whales out of their misery, in order not to lure the free ones back to the beach by the distress cries.
Indigenous Maoris chanted prayers over the carcasses before the bulldozers ripped open a trench above the high water mark, in a very emotional ceremony. Each of the giant mammals weighed around 1500 kilograms and reached up to six metres in length.
“It’s a really mixed emotional thing a whale stranding … of course it was horrible burying them but on the other hand you’ve got to get the job done,” said Mr Hatton of the Department of Conservation.
It is believed the whales were stranded for up to 12 hours, before they were discovered, which led to the death of so many, inspite of all the efforts of 200 rescuers, who were hindered by heavy seas and strong winds. Most of the animals had died before the Department of Conservation staff arrived on the scene.
In 2007 101 pilot whales were stranded on the same beach. New Zealand has one of the world’s highest rate of whale stranding, mainly due to the fact that New Zealand lies on the migration route of the whales to and from the Antarctic.
There have been 1840 stranded whales and dolphins recorded by the Department of Conservation, around the New Zealand coast.
While there is no clear evidence to the reason the world’s largest marine mammals beach themselves, it is thought that weather conditions.
Others claim it is through a defect, or interference with the whales’ navigation system, that may be the cause. The problem is that scientists do not yet know just how whales navigate.
Data from the stranding will be collated in a national database in Wellington in a bid to understand why whales get stranded in such large numbers in New Zealand.
