Seaquake Strands 200 Pilot Whales in New Zealand
One hundred and forty of the 200 pilot whales stranded themselves on Farewell Spit, Golden Bay, South Island, New Zealand, have died. They were injured by an earthquake south of South Island (see below). About 80 conservation workers and volunteers were trying to refloat the whales as high tide rolled in , Department of Conservation area manager Andrew Lamason said that Farewell Spit is a big, shallow hook. The whales come in, they get disoriented , and unfortunately we end up with a lot of dead whales. We've had plenty times in the past where the pods have gone out to sea and turned around and come back again," he added. This disorientation is supposedly cause by the shallow water. The question is if shallow water disoriented them, why didn't they just just stay offshore where they could navigated? Humm? Don't sound right to me . My 40 years of research says pressure changes during the earthquake caused them to be disoriented (see below)...