Group of whales stranded in Coromandel, locals asked to stay away

A group of locals is trying to save a pod of beached whales on the Coromandel, and the next high tide won’t be until 9pm tonight.

A group of 40 to 60 whales is stranded in Colville Bay and staff from the Department of Conservation, the nonprofit Project Jonah and the locals are on site.

Conservation Department Coromandel District Operations Manager Nick Kelly said between 40 and 60 pilot whales were involved in two separate pods.

One group is stranded in shallow water while the second group is farther out and being carried out to sea, Kelly said.

About 25 whales are stranded in the marshes of the site.

“Unfortunately the next high tide is around 9pm tonight,” he said.

The public is asked to stay away from the site.

“We appreciate the public’s concern and we have staff on site who are accepting items like buckets, blankets or food for our staff to contribute to the effort,” he said.

“But a key point for us is asking the public to stay away from the site to allow us to do our job,” he said.

“We have six DOC employees on site, and they are supported by the rural fire brigade and members of the local iwi.”

A group of 20 volunteer mammalian doctors from Project Jonah is also assisting in the refloating mission.

The alarm was raised this morning by locals who saw the whales fluttering but not yet stranded, says Project Jonah communications manager Louisa Hawkes.

The Project Jonah team is “very grateful” to the volunteers who raised the alarm early, says Hawkes.

She says the first call from the volunteers likely saved the second capsule from running aground.

“The locals called him very early, we were able to get people there very early and therefore we have a really good framework for a good response,” she says.

“We are very grateful”.