New Zealand Stranded Whales Shot After Failed Rescue Attempts On Farewell Spit

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Conservation staff in New Zealand have put down 33 stranded whales after several attempts to refloat them failed.

The pilot whales shot Thursday were the last of 99 that stranded themselves Monday on Farewell Spit on the South Island. Department of Conservation area manager John Mason says staff and hundreds of volunteers had tried all week to get the whales refloated.

He says they thought they were successful Wednesday when they got the whales into deep water – but were saddened Thursday to find that they had swum back ashore. He says the condition of the whales had significantly deteriorated.

As well as the 33 whales that were shot, 36 had died naturally since Monday and 17 were successfully refloated. Thirteen remain unaccounted for.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Sockme]

04:52 AM on 01/28/2012

They should eat them or at least process them and send them to people who want to eat them.

[WI Patriot]

12:08 PM on 01/28/2012

That would violate the 1st commandment of the Green Religoin!

Thou must not take advantages of natural processes for human gain! The resources must be wasted and returned to its natural organic state!

[WI Patriot]

01:39 AM on 01/28/2012

These whales are obviously trying to send humans a message that the sea is no longer habitable! Like setting themselves on fire they beach themselves in protest, they are saying they are the 99% and deserve better!

Governments around the world must immediately chlorinate, disinfect and drain the oceans using solar panels and windmills - and replace them with pure and clean bottled water from factories!

[Dave24]

08:53 AM on 01/29/2012

Time for your meds.

[Workstation Zebra]

08:43 PM on 01/27/2012

Its sad to see the whales die like this

[Jerry Pennington]

05:16 PM on 01/27/2012

Sad to see it end this way but it had to be done but I have to say good work to all the people who tried to save them, it takes a big heart to take that kind of time and effort to try to save animals in this situation and they (rescue workers) all have my respect and gratitude for doing everything they could to prevent what was ultimately the final outcome.

[lynniemiller]

11:53 AM on 01/27/2012

Very sad. At least some good people tried to save them in New Zealand.

[jazzymorgan1313]

11:08 AM on 01/27/2012

Sad...... :-(

[Jennifer Moffett]

02:01 AM on 01/27/2012

I've heard a few theories as to why oceanlife beaches. Some think it is because something is interfering with their 'inner compass' - whatever they use to navigate. Others say pollution in the waters made them sick. Some say they beach when sick from our pollution in search of help from us. Others think they are trying to show us what our pollution is doing to other life forms. Some think it is a form of birth defect ( caused by pollution). Some think it is because they're trying to escape the pollution. Others think it is mourners following a dead/dying podmember. The solar burst may have had something to do with it. It may be that the magnetic poles are changing and affecting the whales' navigations ( they got lost). There are many theories. We won't know anything unless we start studying these animals and their environment. By studying, I mean behaviour studies, not chopping them up. Toxicologies should be done on beaching victims, but it might not be much good without healthy whales to compare them to. We may never know. It would be a sad waste if we don't study them and learn all we can from them, tho. I hope we at least try.

[jacmed]

11:20 AM on 01/27/2012

They have been studying this, Jennifer, for a long time. Unfortunately, there are no conclusions. Here's a link that explains the problem pretty well. I found it to be quite interesting, if a bit discouraging.

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/846-why-do-whales-beach-themselves-.html

[mudshark12]

10:35 PM on 01/27/2012

I just read the page at your link (above) and THEY also are suspicious of Sonar as another HP user and I had commented on in:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/mudshark12/navy-sonar-training-northwest_n_1233105_131483838.html
------------------------------------------------------
Abby Lemonade ~
Sadly, these sonar tests are what lead to whales and dolphins committing suicide in mass beachings. Underwater sonar testing - It's like waterboard­ing for marine life.
------------------------------------------------------
Mudshark12 ~
You are right! I'm willing to bet that the noise causes them such intense pain that they go to the only place they have left to them where they won't hear it any longer: dry land.
------------------------------------------------------
We have got to stop and consider how to co-exist with other life forms on this planet or someday people will be the ONLY animals left!

[ddpalmerr]

11:28 AM on 01/27/2012

Well since mass strandings have been recorded since at least the time of Aristotle, it would seem that there are plenty of natural non man-made reasons why they do this. And IMHO any apparent increase is due more to better reporting, fewer areas without people and more news services needing stories to fillout their product, rather than to an actual increase.

[Kyle Mecheri]

12:49 AM on 01/27/2012

Probably a new kind of bacteria that probably scientists made that was thrown out into the ocean or some sort that is proposed to be a new disease "in nature."

[ddpalmerr]

11:30 AM on 01/27/2012

New?

It has been happening for at least the last 2000 years. Just who was producing new kinds of bacteria in 300BC?

[Dave24]

08:56 AM on 01/29/2012

Probably not.

[joellen835]

11:23 PM on 01/26/2012

Somehow, science has got to find out why whales beach themselves. There has to be a reason....some bacteria, or disease, or maybe some sonar signals from ships. I'm sure they tried everything they could to save them, but at last had little choice other than just letting them die slowly. It saddens me that this happened, but we need to find out why. We can send a man to the moon, for heavens sake. Surely, we can figure this out and then do something about it.

[CASSIE60]

11:14 PM on 01/26/2012

The waters are polluted with man made sound which destroys these mammals ability to navigate.

They are echo sound mammals.

[catadvocate]

12:56 PM on 01/27/2012

I agree with you on that theory. There is so much sound pollution that the animals that communicate by echolocation have been rendered mute for the most part. It's a very sad fact of life that the animals have to compete with the noises of the ships in shipping lanes.

[jlglaze]

10:58 PM on 01/26/2012

So sad.

[bobshu7]

09:53 PM on 01/26/2012

I hope they at least harvested the oil and minerals these creatures are hunted for.

[ddpalmerr]

11:32 AM on 01/27/2012

Oils and Minerals?

Sorry but it has been at least 3 decades since they were hunted for oil. And what you mean by minerals is beyond me.

[robinn2005]

06:18 PM on 01/27/2012

Dude, everyone is not as astute as you are, regarding this situation. People are simply speculating.

[belldn3]

09:52 PM on 01/26/2012

Had to put Ole Yeller down didn't ya?

[pluggy64]

09:44 PM on 01/26/2012

If you look up Wikipedia, pilot whales are known for beaching themselves. This is just a natural defect amongst the species.

[katie01967]

09:39 PM on 01/26/2012

Is shooting the most humane way to put a whale down? I'm surprised some medication or oerdose of some drug wouldn't work in a less traumatic manner. I'm not condemning the conseration workers; just surprised at how it was done. Where does one shoot a whale to get instant painless death?

[joellen835]

11:25 PM on 01/26/2012

I can't imagine what a whopper of an overdose it would take to humanely kill an animal so huge. Maybe there is no better way.

[megsy123]

01:05 AM on 01/27/2012

in the brainstem I imagine. you would need a heck of a syringe and tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs. Nothing wrong with a well placed bullet.