By Laura Frykberg
For the third time this summer a pod of whales has stranded near Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island.
Twenty-two long-finned pilot whales are dead after almost 100 beached themselves on the Golden Bay side of the area earlier today.
Even in an area where whale stranding are common, the sound of a beached baby whale is hard to take.
"A bit sad," says Nelson local Michaela Matenga. "The mum is right next to it, but yeah, a bit sad really."
It's one of 99 whales which have been stranded for around 11 hours. An equal number of volunteers are trying to keep them alive.
"We've been digging them out and trying to upright the whales today, as well as keeping them covered and watered," one volunteer told 3 News.
It's a technique which has worked for 77 of them, but not for the remaining 22.
"I'm doing the unfortunate task at the moment of tagging dead whales," says Steve Cronin of the Department of Conservation.
It's the third time this summer pilot whales have stranded at Farewell Spit. DOC says the unusually high number could be linked to more than just the shallow water in the area.
"They'll be coming into Golden Bay probably to feed on squid, and they'll get here and there might be a sick or injured whale the others follow into shallow waters then they all get into trouble," says Andrew Baxter.
It's that social nature which DOC says will prevent many whales from successfully refloating at high tide tonight.
On hearing the call of whales still stuck onshore, many are likely to re-strand.
Efforts to refloat them will resume tomorrow.
3 News