Rescued pod heads for open ocean at last

A pod of pilot whales finally headed for open water yesterday after about 20 of them died when they beached at Golden Bay.

About 300 volunteers helped to refloat about 100 whales at Puponga Beach on Wednesday.

Yesterday they were spotted swimming in shallow water near Pohara Beach on the other side of Golden Bay, sparking fears they may strand themselves again.

However, a Department of Conservation staff member in Golden Bay, Greg Napp, said that they were last seen heading for the entrance to the bay and open water.

DOC boats stayed with them until early in the afternoon.

"They were swimming strongly and they were going in the right direction."

Mr Napp said DOC had been on the alert for another stranding at Pohara Beach, but luckily the pod headed in the right direction.

The volunteers, helped by rising tides, worked over two days using large harnesses to pull the whales offshore towards a channel that had been excavated by a digger.

Mr Napp said the whales could not have been saved without the huge volunteer effort.

DOC has responsibility for managing rescues of stranded whales.

Since 1840 more than 5000 strandings of whales and dolphins have been recorded around New Zealand's coast.