An exclusive from my winter hibernation spot in The Far North.
On Friday morning 20th August 2010 58 Pilot Whales stranded themselves on the west coast of Karikari Peninsula at the remote Karikari Beach.
This location is 3 kilometres on the opposite coast from where I spend winter at Maitai Bay.
This was the scene on Friday afternoon.
Helpers in wetsuits were hard-pressed to keep the animals upright in the surging sea.
A tractor was used to drag the dead whales above the highwater mark for later burial.
Project Jonah and local volunteers made it out to the remote spot where the whales stranded.
The live whales beached in the water were rocked from side to side.
Each surviving whale had a person allocated to talk to it!!!!
Those animals that had stranded highest up the beach were kept wet with buckets of water.
Two of the youngest helpers looked after the smallest whale. This baby calf was thought to be a couple of weeks old. The prognosis was not good, and it didn't see it through the night.
This young girl adopted a baby whale and stayed with it through Friday night.
The Whale Savers decided to transport the surviving whales from Karikari Beach across the narrow peninsula to Maitai Bay.
This was the Saturday morning scene on the calm east coast beach 'my' Maitai Bay.
This was the Saturday morning scene on the calm east coast beach 'my' Maitai Bay.
One of the baby whales survived the night and its girl minder was with it for the refloating. Unfortunately, it was not one of the lucky 9 that made it out to sea.
During the 3 kilometre road journey from the west coast to the east coast of the peninsula the whales were kept wet.
Each whale was lifted off the transportation trailer and gently lowered into the water to refloat.
This is the heavy artillery used for the transportation and refloating.
Very close to kick-off. Thirteen whales had been transported and refloated. Teams of up to 8 people have held each surviving whale in the water for hours prior to releasing them all together. Four kept returning to shore and had to be shot.
A poignant reminder of the 45 whales that died here on Karikari Beach. This sheet covered one of the whales that the volunteers tried to keep alive by dousing it with sea-water. The sheet has been swept by the wind and tide a kilometre away from the stranding.
The graveyard.
Blood stains the pristine white silica sand in the dunes where those that didn't make it now rest in peace.
So ends The Whales' Tale.
Final score - 58 stranded, 13 refloated, 9 made it back to the ocean.
Thanks for watching.
Good luck to all your families.
