Overview
- Rescuers and locals discovered dozens of pilot whales on the Ngawi–Mangatoetoe coast on Thursday and by Friday the Department of Conservation confirmed a total of 43 whales were found and none are believed to have survived.
- Response teams including DOC, Project Jonah and local iwi assessed four animals that were briefly alive and attempted refloats at high tide but the survivors died later the same day.
- Hundreds of volunteers, including schoolchildren, worked to keep stranded whales cool and hydrated using buckets and towels while medics advised limiting stress and avoiding the blowhole area.
- DOC is coordinating with iwi to perform karakia, name the whales and arrange burial of the tūpāpaku, and officials say formal inquiries into the causes will follow.
- Experts say pilot whales strand frequently because of strong social bonds and poor echolocation in shallow sloping bays, and rescue groups are trialling AI acoustic buoys to give faster alerts though current data are limited.