A very mixed day

Alarm went off at 4.15am.  Blearily raised myself from my slumbers at about 4.30 and was on the road by just after 5.00.  A 15-minute drive to the car park and a 20-minute walk to Wharariki Beach and I arrived on the beach in excellent time.  What an amazing sight.  It's a stunning beach at the best of times (and is even pretty spectacular at the worst of times too!) but this was pretty special - huge full moon hanging in the sky and the hint of sunrise behind me.  I'd pre-planned where I thought would be a good spot to be and it didn't let me down.  My solitude on this magnificent beach was shattered a little when I saw another person eagerly pacing the beach with camera in hand and, seeminlgly with no regard for my presence or activity, positioning herself in full view of some of my shots.  Really?  What was she thinking? Couldn't she see me or what I was doing?

Anyway, I spent a magnificent few hours at the beach and whilst the sunrise wasn't quite as spectacular as I'd hoped it might be, I was extremely happy with the time I spent there.

Decided I needed some breakfast after arriving back at the van around 9.00am so headed back towards the east coast where the sun would be able to warm me up.  As I passed the turnoff for Triangle Flat at the base of Farewell Spit I thought of the stranding that had happened yesterday.  My van decided to turn towards the Spit.  A short drive and then KABOOM!!  I found myself facing hundreds of vehicles parked across several paddocks, people wandering around in wetsuits, people wearing orange fluro jackets......  I made an on-the-spot decision that I'd have a quick breakfast then head out and help........

It was a good 25 minute walk along the spit to get to the stranded whales.  Nearing the site the first of the corpses came into sight.  As we moved nearer to the main site, the corpses increased in numbers and with that increase came the increased smell of decaying life.  There were at least a hundred dead whales washed up to the high tide mark so moving in or out of the water necessitated manouvering between them.  It was pretty much high tide when I arrived and the whales that had previously been stranded were afloat and milling around, presumably disoriented and dazed from their experience.  The help that was needed at this time was joining a human chain/barrier to stop or deter the whales from swimming back towards the shore.  I waited until a group was heading out to the chain and joined them.  People who had been out there, mostly in chest deep water, and were beginning to feel the cold peeled out and were replaced by the new recruits.  It was an interesting mix of people - a lady about my age, local, who had helped at previous rescues, a young woman from Argentina, a couple of sisters from Germany (one of whom I knew!  Turns out she did a teaching placement at school a year or two ago!!  Such a small world!), a young woman from the Netherlands.  The atmosphere was supportive, friendly, focussed and incredibly uplifting.  As we joined the chain word was passed along about what the main pod was doing but it wasn't long before word reached us about a new pod that was approaching - at speed.  Sure enough, to the right we could clearly make out the splashing and movement of a significant pod of whales heading directly for us.  One or two people began to express concern for our safety, but reassuring words were relayed back along the chain, as well as information telling us it was a new pod.....about 200 whales......we need to extend the chain as we don't want them to head to the shore where the [by now] outgoing tide would surely strand them.

After about 90 minutes in the water, I began to feel the cold.  Groups of new people were arriving at regualr intervals so I headed back towards the shore with a few others.  It was getting on for a kilometre wade from chain to shore which took some time nad once back on shore we could sit and [try to!] warm up in the sun.  Within what seemed to be minutes of getting to shore the new pod of whales could clearly be seen heading back out to the bay and with them, went the original pod.  It all seemed to happen so quickly - one minute they were charging towards the shore, the next they were heading away.  Success - at least for the time being.  Other chain people returned to the shore whilst the DoC (Department of Conservation) boats patrolled the waters.  Slowly, people began to move away and begin the long trek back to the car park.  I joined them - the atmosphere was of battle-weary joy.  Whilst I'd spent 90 minutes in the water, many, many others had spent hours both today and yesterday.  To see the whales disappear towards the horizon was a joy.

Back at the van the combination of early start, hot sun, cold water and little to eat go the better of me so, after getting out of my wetsuit, donning some dry clothes, hanging the wet stuff and around outside the van I lay down for a 45 minute snooze.  Feeling somewhat re-energized when I woke, I made myself a cuppa and had a bite to eat before heading back towards the camp site.

It's amazing how quickly emotions can change...........

The drive from the car park to the camp site is about 10 minutes - 15 at the most.  I began to notice people parked along the roadside, a rarity in this remote neck of the world......a glance to the bay told me that the earlier efforts to refloat the whales and herd them offshore had failed and I could clearly make out a number of large groups of whales once again stranded by the rapidly receding tide.  I reached the camp ground where the stranded whales could be clearly seen about a kilometre offshore.  Helpers were beginning to arrive.  Project Jonah fluro vests appeared and the process of tending to stranded, helpless whales began once again.  There were several people at the camp site alongside me and we shared binoculars and stories and talked about who was and who wasn't going out to assist this time. I was feeling very tired and sore so lent my wetsuit to an English girl who didn't have one but really wanted to help (Project Jonah insist helpers have a wetsuit on to protect themselves as they don't want to have to deal with hypothermic helpers).  Within a couple of hours however, all helpers were asked to leave the whales as there were (apparently) sightings of several sharks and a lot of jellyfish around them.  

The sun went down on some hundred-plus stranded whales.......to be continued.....