Posts Tagged ‘strandings’
Nearly 500 whales die in New Zealand
The number of pilot whales that have died following a mass stranding in New Zealand has reached nearly 500. Officials are putting the current number of deaths at 477, which occurred on two remote beaches on the Chatham Islands, around 500 miles east of New Zealand’s main islands. The remote location hindered attempts to refloat…
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Success for emergency rescue after dolphins got trapped in Scottish harbour
I’m stationed for a month on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. We’ve run a successful field research project here for 12 years and have already succeeded in getting the Scottish government to create protected areas, including for the Risso’s dolphins who live around this incredible island. But that’s not my story here.…
Read MoreMilitary help out in New Zealand stranded orca rescue
Military personnel helped successfully rescue a stranded juvenile orca from a beach in Marlborough on the South Island on Sunday. They were in the area taking part in training exercises involving representatives from New Zealand, Canada, the USA and Australia. Volunteers from Project Jonah, New Zealand’s strandings NGO and the country’s Department of Conservation coordinated the…
Read MoreDolphin spotted swimming through London dies
A dolphin that had been spotted over a number of days swimming in the Thames, London has sadly died. Initial tests by the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme for the Zoological Society of London show that the common dolphin had very little food in its stomach and was probably quite old, and may have also become…
Read MoreUnexpected Guests: Pilot Whales in the Moray Firth
From WDC information officer, Sam Flood. Long-finned Pilot Whales are curious cetaceans. They are known for their peculiar, bulbous heads and, as the name suggests, elongated fins. Living in close-knit groups, they can often be seen clustered together – almost on top of each other, jostling for position and yet appearing to huddle for comfort…
Read MoreStranded pilot whales refloated by Sri Lankan navy
A pod of around 20 short-finned pilot whales which stranded off Sampur Beach near Trincomalee on Sri Lanka’s north-east coast yesterday, have been refloated by the Sri Lankan navy with the assistance of local people. Navy spokesman, Chaminda Walakuluge, commented: “It was a delicate task to push the whales back without hurting them, but there…
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