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Update : Feb. 12 , 9 a.m. ET : This morning ( Feb. 12 ) , most of the 240 or so whales that had re - stranded yesterday near the original stranding site made there right smart back out to the shallow water supply during the gamy tide , according to the New Zealand Department of Conservation . Then , this good afternoon local time , the persist 17 whales on the beach were refloated and sent back into the mysterious waters in Golden Bay .
" The fauna can only be moved while floating so work with brute is dependent on tides , " the DOC ’s Herb Christophers told Live Science . " While the lunar time period is out , the whales are kept coolheaded and maintained as much as possible in an upright position . They have trouble bearing their own weight and asphyxiate sometimes because of the stead they observe themselves in when stranded . "
Hundreds of pilot whales stranded on Farewell Spit on the South Island of New Zealand today (Feb. 10, 2017).
" Two boats were used to guide the 17 whales out to rejoin the original diffuse seedpod , and it is hoped that they will find a agency into deeper , safer waters,“the DOC said in a financial statement .
Update : Feb. 11 , 9:15 a.m. ET : This sunup ( Feb. 11 ) , about 100 pilot whales were on the beach , and DOC staff did n’t have sex where the heavyweight that had been re - floated yesterday end up . They made another refloating attempt at 11:30 a.m. local sentence , managing to re - float the remaining whale . Volunteers , including those from the marine mammal Jacob’s ladder organization Project Jonah , went into the water to foreclose the whales from land on the beach again : " There are 100 volunteers making a human range in neck opening rich urine endeavor to forestall the whales restranding , with around another 200 volunteer on the beach , " the DOCsaid in a statement . By 2:20 p.m. , 80 of the re - floated whales had join the pod of 200 or so individuals that had been re - floated yesterday . sauceboat are out monitoring their movements . The other 20 giant restranded and are n’t in good condition ; these giant will be euthanized , according to the DOC .
" It was a tough call to make and the decisiveness not to undertake to refloat them and to euthanise the rest whales was take after verbalise to New Zealand Project Jonah ’s Daren Grover , " the DOC say . " Unsuccessful attack at refloat the whales would likely lead to more trauma and stress to them and prolong the heavyweight ' suffering . DOC has taken the decisiveness to humanely euthanise the whales out of business concern for their welfare . "
Late this good afternoon ( Feb. 11 ) , local meter , the 200 refloated pilot whales restranded near the original site , and the DOC is calling for more volunteers to help with more refloating attempt .
Original story ( posted Feb. 10 )
More than 400 original whales strand on a beach in New Zealand overnight , with 250 to 300 of the cetacean mammal already numb this morning in what is considered the third - largest whale beaching in the country since record - retention began in the 1800s .
A New Zealand Department of Conservation worker saw thewhalesin the water Thursday Nox ( Feb. 9 ) local time , regain the heavyweight sprawled across the beach this morning along Farewell Spit , a narrow strip of land on the South Island .
More than 500 volunteers have come out to help with the saving campaign , with prototype showing people stream water on the whales and covering them with what look like ripped T - shirts . [ See Photos of Whales and Sharks from Above ]
DOC staff and volunteers endeavor to refloat more than 100 of the live whales when the tide get in at 10:30 a.m. local time today ( Feb. 10 ) ; about 50 whale swim into the bay successfully , while 80 to 90 of them re - stranded on the beach , grant to a argument by the DOC .
Another refloating attempt is scheduled for Saturday ( Feb. 11 ) at noon , during high tide , according to the DOC . The faculty do n’t interact with the whales when it ’s dark for safety reason : Pilot whales can get budge when they ’re stressed and a moving picture of a fin or tail can wound or even down a human , the DOC pronounce . " They also carry disease , so people need to avoid contact with blowhole exhalent or body fluids , " the DOC pronounce .
As forwhy whales bring down themselves on the beachand in large groups is a mystery , with a issue of theories put forth by marine mammal expert , from malfunctions to their onboard " GPS , " to a transmissible pull toward the land , to a follow - the - pod - loss leader behavior .
Pilot whales , which are social animals , are well - jazz for stranding in radical of just a few to several hundred someone , according to the American Cetacean Society . This would fend for the idea that when one pod member get pale and end up on dry body politic , the others float to its attention , according to the DOC .
A appendage of the dolphin family , pilot heavyweight utilize echolocation to get around , and if that power is cut off it could also guide to a stranding . " The most probable surmise is that pilot whale ' echolocation is not well - suited to shoal , gently splosh waters , because they generally opt high relief ( extortionate ) areas such as the sharpness of the continental shelf , " according to a DOC fact rag . " This would also explain why most mass strandings happen in summer , when the hulk watch popular nutrient sources inshore . "
And Farewell Spit is locate on the north ending of Golden Bay , a have intercourse hotspot for pilot whale strandings .
The largest massstranding of pilot whalesin New Zealand occurred at another hotspot — Chatham Islands , where 1,000 whale stranded in 1918 , and then in 1985 , some 450 individuals down on the beach .
NASAscientists have launcheda cogitation of a more far - out thought : that solar storms pile with the internal compasses of whales and dolphins , chair to maroon event .
expert at Massey University are expect to tackle animal autopsies , or postmortem , of some of the pilot heavyweight today , harmonize to the DOC .
Original article onLive scientific discipline .
