Rescuers save 14 stranded whales

Rescuers succeeded in saving 14 whales stranded on a remote New Zealand beach.

Late yesterday, a total of 24 whales were trucked 30 miles to more sheltered water to be refloated. Several died as a result of the transfer.

Department of Conservation staff and volunteers used three boats and two jet skis to herd the whales out to sea.

Twenty-one were guided into the open sea but seven turned back to land.

The decision to transport the surviving whales from Spirits Bay to Rarawa Beach was made because strong winds and large waves made it impossible to reflect them where they had stranded.