A juvenile orca separated from its pod north of Wellington will be monitored overnight by rescuers and whale specialists, ahead of the search resuming on Monday morning.
Department of Conservation marine species manager Ian Angus said the department and whale rescue groups Whale-Rescue.org and Project Jonah were all on site, at Plimmerton beach north of Wellington, throughout Sunday evening to assist with the stranding of the orca.
Whale-rescue.org was leading the response, Angus said, but the departments marine team was on hand to provide support and supply technical advice.
[On Sunday] evening we, alongside the rescue team had attempted to locate the baby orcas pod to return it safely to its family. Unfortunately we were not successful in locating the pod, he said.
The whale was lifted into the ocean after being stranded.
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Overnight, to keep the calf safe, the rescue team have loaded the calf onto a trailer where it will be kept onshore, actively monitored by Whale-rescue.org and kept moist and cool overnight.
This is a common practice for beached orcas separated from their pod. The method allows a safer and more active monitoring process that prevents the calf from being continuously beached.
The department would reconvene with the search team on Monday morning to continue to monitor the calf, ensure it was safe and help locate the pod, Angus said.
Rescuers are attempting to reunite a stranded juvenile whale with its missing pod near Porirua.
To help assist us in finding their pod the department is asking anyone in the Wellington region, who are out enjoying the moana (ocean) to please report any sightings of orcas directly to 0800 DOC HOT.
On Sunday afternoon, the group of rescuers took the stranded orca into the ocean on the side of a boat, so it could be reunited with its pod. However, their search was unsuccessful.
Witness Allie Burns said teams brought the whale back to the Plimmerton Boat Club after trying to reunite it with the pod, to look after it overnight.
Christine Rose, a whale advocate, said the orca became stranded near Hongoeka Marae, which is on the coastline at Hongoeka, just north of Plimmerton in Porirua.
The whale became stranded off Plimmertons coastline, north of Wellington.
The orca was originally found washed up, stranded on the beach on Sunday afternoon, Rose said, and was calling out to its pod before rescuers attempted to reunite it unsuccessfully.
The orca crying and lost is pretty sad, she said.
People should keep an eye out for the pod along the west coastline of the North Island. Any public sightings should be reported to the department immediately.