Dead whale towed to Farewell Spit tidal flats to decompose
Sunday, 6 December 2020
A 17-metre whale that died on a Golden Bay beach has been towed to the Farewell Spit tidal flats, where it has been tethered and left to decompose.
According to the Department of Conservation, it can take up to three months for a whale carcass to fully decompose.
DOC biodiversity ranger Mike Ogle said the male sei whale, which died on Friday evening despite efforts to save it, weighed about 30 tonnes.
There was no sign of trauma or injury, and it appeared to have been a healthy weight, on the “upper end of size” for the species
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**
“It is not yet determined what might have caused this whale to beach,” Ogle said.
About 30 volunteers, some from Project Jonah, as well as DOC staff and members of local iwi worked to keep the whale moist and cool after it beached just south of Pūponga. However, it died at 9.25pm.
A kaumātua was to say a karakia before the whale was moved to the tidal flats on Saturday.
Project Jonah New Zealand general manager Daren Grover said the cause of the beaching was not obvious and even if a necropsy was performed it might not be conclusive.
“It could have been riddled with parasites, it could have been struck by a ship, it could be old age,” he said, adding it could have been a combination of these factors and others.
Blood at the scene might have been due to superficial wounds. Whales had thin skin and could thrash about when stressed, striking shells on the beach, causing them to bleed, he said.
Golden Bay resident Bruce Schwartfeger was among those who had been at the beach helping to pour water over the whale.
“It didn't look happy, it was foaming at the blowhole. It's not good,” he said at the time.
Grover said Project Jonah had about 4500 volunteers across New Zealand helping with its aim to protect marine mammals and the oceans. The charity delivered first aid to stranded or injured animals via its network of trained Marine Mammal Medics.
“People are drawn to them [stranded whales],” Grover said. “People want to help them. Our trained volunteers help members of the public, guiding them in the right way [to help].”
A sperm whale that beached and died at Rabbit Island, near Nelson, at the end of 2016 was anchored and left to decompose.
In February 2017, hundreds of pilot whales stranded at Golden Bay, many of which were refloated.