It isn't just rich American Democratic party celebrities vowing to wash up in New Zealand. It's whales too.
Some 400 small pilot whales were found yesterday stranded on a remote rural beach. About 275 of them were already dead as local volunteers rushed to try to save the rest. They refloated about 100 of them, but 50 promptly restranded themselves. The other 50 weren't swimming very actively and "they're not looking great out there'' according to NZ conservation officials. It sounds like some have been refloated more than once.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/10/...beach.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/marine/news/ar...d=11798056
I wonder what caused the whales to do this. Mass poisoning? Being chased by large sharks or a rival whale pod? Some kind of group navigational error? An apocalyptic whale death cult?
Latest reports here:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zeal...-refloated
Apparently there's 200 more stranded whales on a beach some 11 km away and a couple of hundred fresh ones in a new pod are in the water near the beaches with unknown intentions, maybe intending to strand themselves too, maybe intent on keeping the stranded ones from escaping, or maybe just watching.
A report from just 15 minutes ago says the ones in the water have started heading for shore.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/3...ewell-spit
Update edit: Hundreds of rescue volunteers have formed a human chain in the shallow water to try to prevent the new whales from stranding themselves.
Some 400 small pilot whales were found yesterday stranded on a remote rural beach. About 275 of them were already dead as local volunteers rushed to try to save the rest. They refloated about 100 of them, but 50 promptly restranded themselves. The other 50 weren't swimming very actively and "they're not looking great out there'' according to NZ conservation officials. It sounds like some have been refloated more than once.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/10/...beach.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/marine/news/ar...d=11798056
I wonder what caused the whales to do this. Mass poisoning? Being chased by large sharks or a rival whale pod? Some kind of group navigational error? An apocalyptic whale death cult?
Latest reports here:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zeal...-refloated
Apparently there's 200 more stranded whales on a beach some 11 km away and a couple of hundred fresh ones in a new pod are in the water near the beaches with unknown intentions, maybe intending to strand themselves too, maybe intent on keeping the stranded ones from escaping, or maybe just watching.
A report from just 15 minutes ago says the ones in the water have started heading for shore.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/3...ewell-spit
Update edit: Hundreds of rescue volunteers have formed a human chain in the shallow water to try to prevent the new whales from stranding themselves.