Second mass whale stranding averted

Tired rescuers were tonight hoping a pod of pilot whales would swim peacefully out to sea and keep away from the beach after they had to hop back in the water and stop the whales from stranding for the second time in as many days.

The 123 whales first beached at Puponga, in the South Island's Golden Bay, about midday yesterday and after a massive rescue operation, were refloated from about 2pm today.

But just a few hours later, about 55 of the pod began getting into shallow water again about 1km south of the original stranding and 28 of them reached a point where they needed help again.

"We had people in the water and boats on the water and the people were able to refloat the whales -- they were just beginning to get stuck on the bottom," Conservation Department (DOC) Golden Bay spokeswoman Trish Grant said.

"They were moving away but who knows what will happen from here on in."

Ms Grant said everybody was hoping that they had seen the last of the whales on the beach.

"We think it was a fantastic result really that we were able to get to them in time before they had a chance to strand and get them moving, because they were really beginning to sink into the sand beneath."

She said the volunteers had accepted the whales re-stranding as it was common in such cases, although it was hard to know why.

The beach would have to be cleared by dark tonight as it was too dangerous for people to stay and watch for the whales.

"There's a plane going up at first light and they'll scan the beaches and see if there's any sign of whales on the beaches -- and we hope not."

About 15 of the pod had died by the time they were first refloated.

Some of the whales that survived had suffered scrapes and were not in very good condition after their ordeal, Ms Grant said.

Earlier, the many rescuers had worked tirelessly keeping the whales damp with seawater and sheets before the tide was high enough to attempt the refloat.

Ms Grant said the whales had reacted well to the many volunteers and DOC staff taking care of them.

"They seem to accept it quite readily -- you don't have any sense of agitation and certainly the people get very fond of the whales they are looking after and they become very concerned for them.

"There's an awful lot of emotion around it and heartfelt concern on the part of the people."

Nelson publisher and Forest and Bird member Craig Potton was one of the rescuers.

He was "ecstatic, euphoric" after seeing the whale he was helping swimming back out to sea.

But despite the value of the experience, he was glad it was over.

"After a long period of time even with wetsuits on, it gets cold, even though it's summer and the water's warm," he told National Radio.

When it came time to refloat, four people had all pushed and pushed the whale until it swam off in the right direction on its own.

"That's what's extraordinary about them. If you can imagine any large animal might object to that sort of behaviour but no, they're very gentle."

He said they had nicknamed the whale they were helping Bono -- as it was singing all the time.

- NZPA