\u201cWe are always ready to go because this is the season and this is what happens,\u201d Waitai said.<\/p>\n
Ng\u0101ti Kuri assessed the site on Monday and confirmed there were 27 pilot whales stranded.<\/p>\n
The location, the condition of the animals and tidal factors contributed to the decision not to launch a rescue operation. <\/p>\n
Waitai said there had been times when others had tried to save and move stranded whales but it is hard on the marine mammals. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust touching them is awful for them. So, sometimes rescuing\u2019s not really the best choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision not to attempt to rescue the pilot whales on Monday had carried a lot of weight, especially as whales are considered family and t\u016bpuna (elders) in M\u0101ori culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more the responsibility and the obligation to do it right and do the tikanga right,\u201d Waitai said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t hang your father out in front of everybody and leave them out on the beach and whales are like wh\u0101nau, so you don\u2019t you treat them like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waitai said decisions are made so their whakapapa can be maintained through k\u014drero.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you can always uphold and remember who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of the pilot whales have since died. In response, Ng\u0101ti Kuri developed a cultural and bio-hazard clean-up plan. <\/p>\n
The iwi informed DoC who, on Ng\u0101ti Kuri\u2019s invitation, deployed two of their staff to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have since been two tides that have flushed the beach clean and it is now safe to walk on,\u201d Waitai said.<\/p>\n
Ng\u0101ti Kuri asked that walkers keep off the dunes from Te Rerenga Wairua\/Cape R\u0113inga to Kahokawa on Te Oneroa a Tohe\/Ninety Mile Beach.<\/p>\n
Waitai said the request was to prevent further bio-diversity damage to the dunes and to also protect cultural sites. <\/p>\n
A r\u0101hui was put in place but has since lifted.<\/p>\n
Waitai praised the walkers for their help and for respecting the process, which included them being asked to leave the beach. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just said, \u2018You\u2019re welcome to stay up in the micro camp and rest up there, but not on the beach\u2019. And there was no opposition. They were just they\u2019re just really helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pilot whales – which are in fact one of the largest members of the dolphin family – are considered prolific stranders.<\/p>\n
A mass stranding of around 30 pilot whales near Farewell Spit on January 18 this year. Photo \/ Project Jonah<\/p>\n
Information by DoC stated that while there were recordings of individual strandings nationwide, mass stranding hotspots were Golden Bay, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands. <\/p>\n
The biggest recorded pilot whale stranding was an estimated 1000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918.<\/p>\n