2024-01-29 10:03:36
Updated Monday, January 29, 2024 – 11:03
Dozens of people attended on Monday on a New Zealand beach the recovery of a whale that died after becoming stranded near the city of Christchurch.
The fin whale, seven meters, died in the early hours of the day after running aground on a sandbank in an estuary near the Mocks Bay suburb of Christchurch, on the country’s east coast, the conservation department announced.
“A lot of people are worried. People are fascinated by whales, especially a whale this size so close to the city,” Daren Grover of the conservation group Project Jonah told Radio New Zealand.
Fin whales can grow up to 26 meters long and weigh up to 80 tons. The Coast Guard used an excavator to remove the cetacean’s body from the water.
A crowd of people perched on rocks at the edge of the beach, and some of those present took photos of the moment.
Environmentalists have recorded more than 5,000 whales stranded in New Zealand since 1840but they rarely swim so close to Christchurch.
“It is unusual for a whale to reach the estuary and we don’t know why this one did it,” he said. Andy Thompsondirector of operations of the conservation department.
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