10 Nov 2017

Whale-saving invention ready for summer

From Morning Report, 7:54 am on 10 November 2017

The remote and wind-swept beaches inside Farewell Spit, at the north-west tip of the South Island, have long been a whale death-trap. In February this year, it was the scene of mainland New Zealand's biggest stranding since records began in the 1800s. While hundreds of volunteers fought to save the lives of the struggling whales, a prototype whale-lifting machine appeared on the sand, in what was its first experimental outing. RNZ reporter Tracy Neal caught up with its inventors to see how it's shaping up.