A Sei whale that died last night after beaching at Golden Bay will be refloated and towed out this afternoon at high tide, according to the Department of Conservation.
The 17-metre whale was found stranded at Farewell Spit around 5pm yesterday by locals, but died just after 9pm.
DOC biodiversity ranger Mike Ogle said DOC staff and about 30 volunteers worked into the night to keep the whale moist and cool it off with cold water.
Ogle said the marine mammal will be towed out to the Farewell Spit tidal flats at high tide which is around 2pm today.
"There is no sign of trauma or injury, and it appears to have been a healthy weight," said Ogle.
"It is not yet determined what might have caused this whale to beach."
Weighing in at 30 tonnes, Ogle said the whale fell into the upper end of the Sei whale size scale.
Volunteer whale-saving group Project Jonah general manager Daren Grover said members of the public “very, very quickly” went to care for the whale, and DOC staff were at the stranding 45 minutes after receiving a report.
It was hoped the whale, which was beached about 1km from the high water mark, would be able to re-float itself at high tide overnight.
But, Grover said the whale was showing signs of poor health when it was found.
He said there was usually an “underlying reason” behind strandings of large whales, such as illness, injury, old age or a parasite infection.
“It could have been a combination of these factors.”
Yesterday’s stranding comes as more than 100 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins died after being stranded on the northern beach on the main Chatham Island last week.
Grover said it was common to see “blips” in whale and dolphin strandings every now and again.
“We expect more activity over the summer months,” he said, as species of whales migrate to eat and breed.
He said strandings of Sei whales in New Zealand, like the one found on Farewell Spit, were “quite unusual”.
“As we’re seeing ocean temperatures rise because of climate change, we may start to see more unusual species stranding.”
Local iwi were on the scene this morning and a kaumātua will say a karakia before the whale is refloated.
DOC is urging people to stay away from the area as the whale is refloated.
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