01/24/2024
Sadโฆโฆwhat a valiant effort though to save these magnificent animals ๐๐ป๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐
Yesterday afternoon a large pod of around 45 false killer whales and bottlenose dolphins, stranded at Taylorโs Beach on Mahia Peninsula.
They were refloated at high tide around 3:30pm, assisted by the local community. However, sadly the entire pod re-stranded at a remote and inaccessible reef point further south from Taylorโs Beach on Mahia Peninsula.
We assessed the whales and dolphins had an extremely low chance of being refloated and surviving. Our local rangers made the difficult decision to euthanise the animals to prevent them having suffered overnight.
The stranding incident was first reported to us at about 2pm Sunday afternoon. Our team travelled from Gisborne to Taylorโs Bay, arriving by 5pm, by which time the whales had been initially refloated.
We would like to thank the volunteers, iwi, local community, and Project Jonah volunteers who came to the beach to assist with initial refloating of the whales.
Whale and dolphin strandings are common in New Zealand. Why they strand is not fully known but factors can include sickness, navigational error, geographical features, a rapidly falling tide, being chased by a predator or extreme weather.
Find out about our response and our latest update here: https://bit.ly/3SaHtkR
