Race against time as whales strand on East Coast beach

A pod of pilot whales has stranded at a beach near Māhia on the East Coast.

A video posted on a Facebook community page shows the whales thrashing in the shallows of a rocky beach and waving their tales, surrounded by white water.

Whale conservation group Project Jonah and the Department of Conservation are mobilising a team to attempt to save the animals.

Project Jonah manager Daren Grover said the team planned to assess the scene and triage the whales based on which were in most urgent need of care.

He said the beach was isolated and this was a major stranding for an area where there were not many people nearby to help.

But Grover said any locals wanting to help should not get in the water with the stranded whale because it could be unpredictable and dangerous.

By Jemima Huston