Conservation officials in New Zealand have started puncturing the carcasses of the dead whales that had stranded at Farewell Spit in Golden Bay. The workers pierced the carcasses to release gas built up during decomposition.
According to officials, these carcasses may explode on volunteers, and therefore it was essential to puncture them to avoid threat.
On Friday, more than 400 pilot whales had stranded in the sand at Farewell Spit at the northern tip of the South Island in New Zealand. Most of these whales later died.
Many conservation workers and volunteers tried to keep the creatures alive by sloshing water over their bodies using buckets. Project Jonah issued a Facebook alert about the incident, and as a result, hundreds of people responded to serve as volunteers. The roads to the South Island beach got packed with cars moving towards the remote area. Volunteers at the scene assisted conservation workers in saving the whales. Some volunteers also formed human chains to prevent whales from swimming back ashore. A major setback for the rescuers who were trying to save the whales came when they saw refloated whales heading back into the beach.
The Department of Conservation Golden Bay operations manager Andrew Lamason revealed that most of the whales that had been rescued were swimming in the wrong direction and coming back into the bay.
“In the heat, the whales can explode, but we’ve taken steps to prevent that,” Trish Grant, a spokeswoman for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, told CNN.
“Our staff has been puncturing the dead whales, using an implement that releases the gas (inside their carcasses) that someone local has built for us.”
According to officials, they are planning to move the dead whales further up to a location not open to the public.
The whales will be moved using a digger and buried in the sand dunes.
“We’ve finished for tonight, but we’ll resume our searches tomorrow. The whales are still in the Golden Bay area relatively close to shore and there’s a risk that they could strand overnight,” Grant said.
“It has been decided it is more suitable to take the dead whales out of the area that is open for public walking access,” New Zealand’s department of conservation said on its website.
According to officials, the reason behind the stranding is not clear yet.
You must be logged in to post a comment.