Good news for change. On Sunday, a pod of more than 30 pilot whales became stranded on Ruakākā Beach near Whangārei in northern New Zealand. Hundreds of residents joined forces with conservationists to save the pod. The rescue effort was spearheaded by the local Māori group, Patuharakeke. Remarkably, most of the pilot whales were refloated and swam out to sea, but three adults and one calf died.

Patuharakeke remained on the beach through the night to make sure none of the rescued whales were re-stranded.

The Department of Conservation (DOC), which is responsible with managing stranded marine rescues, called the rescue effort “incredible, with everyone coming together for the whales”.

“It’s amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals,” the department’s operations manager Joel Lauterbach said.

He also thanked all involved parties including Patuharakeke and Project Jonah, which delivers aid to stranded marine mammals, and the “hundreds of members of the public who have assisted so far”.

A Māori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place on Monday. New Zealand’s Indigenous people consider whales a taonga — a sacred treasure — of cultural significance.

Whale and dolphin strandings are common in the country. The DOC responds to around 85 incidences a year on average, mostly consisting of single animals. New Zealand has recorded more than 5,000 whale strandings since 1840. The largest pilot whale stranding was of an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the DOC.