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Mass whale stranding New Zealand


Kismit

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Last 17 stranded pilot whales refloated as main pod heads toward sea

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/324303/last-17-stranded-whales-refloated,-main-pod-heads-to-sea


 

 

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Good news about the whales at last.

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When I read about a whale stranding it seems like it's mostly Pilot Whales then any other species.

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The latest problem is preventing the dead whales from exploding. Authorities had to cut holes in 300 bodies to release decomposition pressure.

New Zealand Warns of Exploding Whale Carcasses after Mass Stranding

New Zealand authorities were cutting holes in 300 whale carcasses on Monday, popping the dead animals "like balloons", to avoid them exploding as they decompose on Golden Bay after more than 600 whales became stranded.

Hundreds of rescuers managed to save around 400 pilot whales on the South Island beach on the weekend after one of New Zealand's largest whale strandings.

But hundreds of whales died on the beach and the Department of Conservation (DOC) cordoned off the bodies and urged the public to call them if they found whale carcasses that had floated off the beach and washed up on nearby shores.

Read more: Scientific American

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On 12/02/2017 at 1:43 PM, Aitrui said:

Might be a coincidence, but the worlds largest seismic blasting ship is currently blasting away just off the east coast of New Zealand. The whale meat will definately not be sold to the Japanese or anyone! No need to create a market for whales which beach themselfves. Carcasses will be studied,

Farwell Spot is technically on the west side of the island.

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On 2/12/2017 at 5:23 AM, Grandpa Greenman said:

:cry:  How sad, very sad.  I hope they find out why.  

One of the things about the area around Farewell Spit is the geography of the place and especially the underwater topography. Most marine mammals use echolocation for finding their way around and Golden Bay is reasonably large and shallow, rising up until you hit the sandbars in the west and eventually the spit itself. However, the main problem is that the topography of the western part of the bay, where the sea floor rises up so gradually that the dolphin's echolocation cannot detect the change in the level of of the sea floor until they're in shallow waters. By then, it is already too late. The reason why they go into the bays is probably due to food and also because most marine mammals would want to make a b-line to the open ocean, not realizing that there is a massive sand spit in the way. 

Pilot whales are also a social species, so when a few members strand, they all do. It could be behind other whale pods also coming in after the main stranding due to distress calls. 

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