Rescuing New Zealand’s gentle giants

February saw my faith in humanity restored when I took part in a 3-day, 200-man effort to rescue 85 disorientated and exhausted pilot whales stranded on a 35-kilometre sand spit in Golden Bay, on the north-west coast of New Zealand's South Island.

The distress gripped us as we looked out onto the coastline, by now a wide open plain of white sand stained with black, oily flanks of sea beast lying immobile in the heat of the day. We feltthe pressure of time, the tide turning like the falling sand in an hour-glass that gently yet purposefully runs out until there is nothing left. Ancient Maori would have described this event as ‘He Paenga Pakake’, the fallen chiefs on the battlefield. And that’s just how they appeared: sentinels of independence from our alien world vulnerable in their helplessness, trapped by their own size and power.

I had always expected to feel insignificant in the presence of such an awesome creature, but I had not been prepared for this direct encounter of raw survival. Once down amongst them I worked all day to save one of the leading bull whales. Keeping the side fins free of sand, we dug little pools under them. To keep the tail fin wet and cool we dug a large pit underneath, circulated by water from long trenches, achingly dug out from small tidal pools 50 metres away.

From above it may have looked like black, glossy arteries connecting whale to water. Wet sheets that we placed so carefully on the smooth skin became one of the main concerns, as they tended to heat up the skin underneath, drying it out under the sun and causing it to blister. This experience became a relationship of trust. In the moments where I felt so useless and looked about me at so many helpless creatures lying in the sand, crying to mothers and mothers to pups, all I could do was to focus on the moment at hand, the now, the diminishing expanse of now.

As the light dropped speckled reflections on the glassy sand, sadly our time on the spit was drawing to a close. We took the sheets carefully from their skin to offer our last thoughts to the whales. Throwing his arms out in the direction of the sea, a man nearby ordered his whale to ‘Go out to the sea, go on, go on!!’ Some got down in the sand beside them, eye to eye to sing; a brave young girl beside me knelt by the pups and cried; some simply stood with their last bucket of water in hand, spade in the other, the sweat and the sand caught in their hair, weathered and worn.

The next day I passed the responsibility onto a group of friends and they travelled the two hours out to Golden Bay and re-floated most of the whales that were now utterly exhausted after three days of lying in sand. Some had returned again but were now successfully shepherded out of the bay. One friend said it was an experience he will never forget, the moment when, within the main pod of whales, all was struggle and confusion; swimming over each other in reunion, they finally formed a triangular shape to head out to sea. As though with a sense of relief, thanks and farewell, they took a final full, replenishing breath before rolling back under the waves, to disappear from view. Everyone present felt a sense of real achievement and deep respect for these awesome creatures from the depths.

On 19th February, in one of the largest strandings recorded, 107 pilot whales were found dying on a beach on Stewart Island, a remote island a few miles south of New Zealand; a few days later, on 22nd February, Christchurch was hit with its most devastating earthquake in its history. Might it be that tectonic events disorientate the whales' complex navigational systems? If so, perhaps the next time a mass beaching is discovered the people of Christchurch and elsewhere should treat it as an early warning of yet another potentially devastating earthquake, which scientists there have, sadly, predicted will occur in the near future.

Top: Exhausted pilot whales stranded on Golden Bay's sand spit. Above: Isabelle comforts the whale she helped to survive. Photos: Ian Trafford, www.iantraffordphotos.com

This article was written by Isabelle Baigent and originally published in Issue 81 of Caduceus, an independent healing and spiritual magazine for the community of healers, seekers and world workers. Available both online and in hard copy.

Interested in in the issues raised? See the coming issue of Caduceus (82) for a feature on the rescue and conservation of whales and dolphins in the US, Canada and Peru.

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