Helping save hundreds of stranded whales at Farewell Spit was a "life-changing" experience for a Whanganui mother and son.
Whanganui-based Project Jonah volunteers Karen and Todd Matthews were part of the volunteer army that descended on Farewell Spit, near Nelson, in the weekend, after a mass stranding of pilot whales.
More than 400 whales stranded on Thursday, followed by another 200 on Saturday and 17 on Sunday.
The mother and son were called out by Project Jonah on Friday, and arrived at Farewell Spit around midday on Saturday after a 12-hour car and ferry journey.
"When we got there, we were sent straight into the water to be part of a human chain," Todd said. "But after about 10 minutes they pulled us out because they were worried there was another pod that would strand."
Many of the original pod of whales had to be put down, and Karen and Todd prepared to leave Farewell Spit - only for the second pod of around 200 whales to strand.
This time the duo were called on to care for individual whales as the tide receded, keeping them calm and their skin damp.
"Their skin dries out so fast," Karen said.
Like all the volunteers, Karen and Todd lived rough while they were at the spit, sleeping on the grass and getting by on minimal food and water.
"We were running on adrenaline," Karen said. "We were already tired when we arrived, but once we saw the whales we just forgot about sleep.
"You do have to take care of yourself, though. There are a few risks at whale strandings - dehydration, hypothermia, sun stroke, sharks, stingrays and the whales themselves.
"The whales are quite stressed and some of them try to thrash about. You don't want to get in the way of their tails," Todd added.
Karen has always had a passion for whales. She wanted to join Project Jonah when it began in the 1970s, but she was too young. She finally joined in 2014 and went through training.
Karen attended the stranding of an orca at Patea beach in March 2016. The Farewell Spit stranding was Todd's first stranding.
There were up to 600 volunteers on the beach at any one time, and Karen said strong connections were formed among strangers.
"There were hundreds of people from all walks of life, all trying to save these whales."
The locals were very helpful, bringing food and coffee for feed the volunteers, she said.
Karen and Todd returned to Whanganui on Monday, and are still trying to process their time with the whales. Karen described the experience as "life-changing, emotional".
"When we were there we were so busy we didn't realise have time to think about what we were doing. It's only now that we're back that we're thinking about the experience," she said.
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In the event of a stranding or other marine animal crisis please contact the Department of Conversation on 0800 362 468 or Project Jonah on 0800 494 253. For information on donating or volunteering, check out Project Jonah on Facebook.