This video from New Zealand says about itself:
Whale Rescue Farewell Spit
24 January 2012
Volunteers work to free a pod of stranded pilot whales on Farewell Spit, New Zealand; an area notorious for whale strandings. Project Jonah CEO, Kimberly Muncaster, talks about the rescue. 24 January 2012.
This video says about itself:
13 February 2015
Almost 200 pilot whales stranded themselves Friday on a New Zealand beach renowned as a deathtrap for the marine mammals, conservation officials said.
From daily The Guardian in Britain:
Mass whale stranding in New Zealand kills 24 with more fatalities expected
Almost 200 pilot whales became stuck on Farewell Spit in Golden Bay, prompting nearly 100 volunteers to help refloat them
Friday 13 February 2015 06.59 GMT
A mass whale stranding on Farewell Spit in New Zealand’s Golden Bay has left 24 of the animals dead and local authorities expect the toll will continue to rise.
Close to 100 volunteers worked on Friday to help refloat almost 200 pilot whales which became stranded on the stretch of beach.
Most of the whales that survived were refloated in the high tide, but were “swimming in a confused fashion”, said Andrew Lamason from the Department of Conservation (DOC).
“What the risk is, is you’ve got some of those whales in that pod which are determined to restrand and they’ll be dragging the ones that have been refloated back onto the beach,” he said.
But as for what caused the whales to strand in the first place, Lamason said it was part of nature.
“It’s sad but in a way it’s how nature works. You’ve gotta be pragmatic when you’re wearing my shoes,” he said.
The DOC and the volunteers called off help for the night but will be back at the beach on Saturday morning to keep the whales comfortable and healthy.
Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of Golden Bay and there have been numerous previous whale strandings there.
so sad
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Indeed. Late news about this:
Rescuers are racing against the clock to refloat about 90 stranded pilot whales after more than 100 died on a beach on New Zealand’s South Island.
The rescuers and volunteers at Farewell Spit, Golden Bay, managed to shepherd many mammals into deeper water, only for them to again run aground.
Conservation officials believe they have one last chance to refloat the whales on the high tide.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31450651
Whale beachings may happen naturally, but also because of, eg, navy sonar:
https://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/navy-sonar-damages-whales-new-research/
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