Watch: Sperm whale beaches in 'very rare' event

By Geoff Sloan

A whale stranded on the sandbar of a Christchurch beach has died despite efforts from environmental organisations to rescue it.

The whale was first spotted on Saturday evening struggling in shallow waters off South New Brighton, before washing up on the beach Sunday morning, attracting a number of onlookers.

Department of Conservation operations manager Andy Thompson said the beaching was a very unusual event for the region.

"It has passed away, unfortunately. But this is very rare to have a sperm whale on New Brighton beach".

He said the chances of refloating the whale were very slim.

"Sperm whales tend to come in because there is something wrong, and it's a really big animal and dealing with an animal that size at night time is extremely dangerous".

Thompson says it was working with local Iwi to formulate a plan for the next few days.

"We're looking at a range of options, looking at burying the whale in an appropriate place, and we are looking at honoring the whale by removing some of the taonga from the whale.

And that will mean a jaw and teeth removal. And we want to do that for cultural reasons, but we also want to make sure that they don't get taken in appropriately".

Members of Project Jonah were also on hand to help manage the stranding. The volunteer environmental organisation said this was the fifth sperm whale that has died in New Zealand in the last month, with three strandings in Northland and one in Mahia.

Members of the group said large whales posed a huge logistical challenge for a refloat due to their size and weight and often they have underlying health conditions, which they say is the likely reason for them stranding.

Doc was continuing to investigate the cause of the whale stranding.

Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri were performing a karakia and would work with Doc to remove the whale.

The whale was alive as of 9.30pm.

It was stranded on the ocean side of a sandbar, which was too deep to walk to.

Project Jonah decided late last night not to remain in the water overnight and to resume the rescue this morning.

“Please assist the response by respecting any restrictions put in place by DOC, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Project Jonah or the Police, and by not heading to the beach to sightsee,” Project Jonah said.

Project Jonah is an environmental organisation dedicated to the protection of whales, dolphins and seals and the oceans they call home.

Whale or dolphin strandings can be reported to the Doc emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) or 0800 4 WHALE (Project Jonah).

With NZ Herald