Watch Earth Matters
on CNN and
CNN International.
|
Rescued whales beach themselves again; 19 more die
Part of group saved Wednesday by New Zealand volunteers
October 10, 1997
Web posted at: 11:21 p.m. EDT (0321 GMT)KARIKARI, New Zealand (CNN) -- Nineteen pilot whales have died after beaching themselves on a New Zealand beach for the second time.
The whales were part of a group of 101 whales who beached themselves on Karikari Beach Wednesday. Of those, 53 died, but volunteers managed to save 48 of the animals and coax them back out to sea Thursday afternoon.
But 39 of those whales headed back towards the shore, beaching themselves yet again. It is believed that a distressed, pregnant female may have led the others back to their doom.
By mid-day Friday, rescuers were frantically trying to keep the remaining 20 whales cool and wet so that they could survive until the next high tide, when they can again be floated out to sea.
The dead whales will be buried in trenches along the beach. Local Maoris have been offered their bones to make carvings, an important part of the native group's cultural ties with nature.
Reuters contributed to this report.
|
Sound off on our message boards You said it... |
|
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.