40 beached whales refloated in New Zealand

The long-finned pilot whales stranded themselves on Farewell Spit beach

Wellington: Volunteers in New Zealand successfully refloated 40 stranded whales, but remained concerned they might beach themselves again overnight.

A pod of 49 long-finned pilot whales earlier stranded themselves on Farewell Spit, a remote beach on the South Island, according to authorities. Nine of the whales died.

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Louisa Hawkes, a spokesperson for whale rescue group Project Jonah, said volunteers helped keep the whales cool and comfortable throughout the day by drenching them with buckets of water, keeping them upright and making sure they didn’t put too much pressure on their fins.

The evening high tide allowed them to refloat the whales, she said. The whales were spread out along the beach and one of their first tasks was to herd them together again in a pod. She said about 200 people, most of them volunteers, helped form a barrier as they moved the whales out to sea.

Once in deeper water, boats took over and zipped back and forth in a line to prevent the whales from returning to shore.But she said that despite their efforts, the whales hadn’t swum away into the ocean and they feared they might beach themselves again.

The whales were first noticed by a tour operator on Monday morning, the Department of Conservation said. Conservation rangers helped coordinate the rescue effort alongside volunteers from Project Jonah, while people who lived in the area also helped out.

Farewell Spit, a sliver of sand that arches like a hook into the Tasman Sea, has been the site of previous mass strandings. Pilot whales are relatively small but can grow to over 20 feet.