By Rebecca Wright
An army of volunteers has managed to save most of the pod of whales which beached in the Coromandel this morning.
Around 60 pilot whales beached at the small settlement of Colville, where locals, Department of Conservation staff and visiting campers teamed up to save about two thirds of the pod.
It was a long and delicate operation keeping around 40 pilot whales wet while they waited for the tide to come back in.
“I've been here since 8am, she's pretty stressed, I’m just trying to keep her calm,” said tourist Ursula Walsh of one whale.
The pod of about 60 stranded themselves at around 5am today.
“The most likely reason they've joined us here is pilot error – they're very social,” says Mike Donahue of DOC.
Hundreds of local holidaymakers and DOC staff worked throughout the day keeping the massive mammals hydrated.
“You can't really come here to do nothing, you have to get stuck in and help,” said Steve Pongia.
Calves who beached beside their mothers were the lucky ones – they were able to keep each other calm.
“Remember to keep talking to it; keep the covers on till the last minute because we want to keep them as cool as possible,” DOC marine specialist Rob Schapelle advised the volunteers.
Twenty two lost their lives after they lost their way; local iwi stepped in and dragged their remains up the beach for burial.
DOC was prepared and knew what needed to be done to save the beached whale.
“We want the whales to be facing out to see but all altogether so that when the back ones are floating, the front ones are ready to go and we can move them all out as a pod,” said Mr Schapelle. “The last thing we want is them turning around and coming back in again.”
One by one, they entered a channel specially dug earlier in the day.
It was moments like that everyone had been waiting for.
One calf was visibly distressed until, amazingly, it found its mother.
The surviving members of the pod were guided out into deep water, shepherded by a flotilla of boats.
“There are some boats out there now and they'll try herd them out banging steel under the water to drive them away,” said Mike Donahue during the operation.
Then, success; forty whales were finally freed from their sandy death trap.
It took a lot longer to get them out to sea because one of mothers gave birth and everyone had to wait while the whales taught the baby how to swim.
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