“Sun is a really hard thing for these whales to navigate. Volunteers would be particularly helpful after midday, as they were planning to refloat the whales this afternoon, she said. Last night a Project Jonah spokesperson said 15 of the stranded whales were swimming freely in the bay. The spokesperson said the remaining whales were still in the tidal zone, but were showing signs of encouraging behaviour. The Department of Conservation, which is also assisting at the site of the latest stranding, said Farewell Spit, where whales frequently strand at the top of the South Island, “is a naturally occurring ‘whale trap’ that occurs along a migratory route for long-finned pilot whales in New Zealand”.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 09, 2026 23:27 UTC