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projectjonahnz

@projectjonahnz

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Empowering local communities and saving whales since 1974.

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Under the surface
Some days hit you on a different level and leave life scars. Whales can definitely have an impact on your soul. It’s difficult to explain, but we recognise their intelligence, especially when you make eye contact with one for the first time.
When we arrived at Farewell Spit, the entire coastline was covered in whales. It was an unreal situation.
This video looks back at a multi-day rescue operation from nearly 15 years ago. 99 pilot whales became stranded on the remote tidal flats of Golden Bay. The audio tracks the raw underwater acoustics — the distinct clicks and vocalisations of the smallest family members as they navigated their way back to deeper waters. Sadly, only 17 survived.
Brother in the field: @baschekinski
With thanks to all involved: @dr_ingrid_visser, @projectjonah & @docgovtnz.
#pilotwhales #farewellspit #marinerescue #oceanconservation #newzealand

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Watching this juvenile humpback whale playing around on our way back from a Torrent River Canyoning trip in the Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand. What an absolute joy! We feel so lucky to have crossed paths.

#humpbackwhale
#abeltasmannationalpark
#canyoning

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Congratulations to the winners of our Project Jonah giveaway!

First prize: 1 place on the Marine Mammal Medic Course + Sustained Fun prize pack goes to @n0tibuoy

Second prize of 50% of a place on the Marine Mammal Medic Course + Sustained Fun prize pack goes to @kayleestubberfield

Third prize of a Sustained Fun prize pack goes to @m_dori_

Thanks everyone for entering! Use the discount code WHALESARECOOL to get a free At the Beach game when you buy Whale Poo and CO2 puzzle. Shop link in bio ☝️☝️🐋

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🐋 Walking through the whale, holiday style! 😎

While visiting New Zealand, Devon Coordinator Chris Berry took the opportunity to spend two days with our friends over at Project Jonah

Their teams have decades of experience responding to whale strandings on an extraordinary scale, often seen in the hundreds

In Christchurch, Chris joined Jennifer McKinlay for school sessions with ‘Jonah’ the Project Jonah’s gorgeous life-sized inflatable humpback, before visiting Daren Grover and Louisa Hawkes in Nelson to exchange ideas on whale stranding response and refloatation

BDMLR already has a longstanding relationship with Project Jonah and uses the inflatable whale pontoons they pioneered. Spending time with their team offered another valuable opportunity to share knowledge between two organisations facing many of the same challenges, often on very different scales

A huge thank you to Daren, Louisa, Jennifer and everyone at Project Jonah for making Chris so welcome and generously sharing their time and experience 🐋🧡

#cetacean
#projectjonah
#massstranding
#oceanrescue
#whalerescue

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Chatham Island, New Zealand, 2022. Hundreds of long-finned pilot whales strand on a beach. Sadly, it’s a familiar story – navigational error, disease, or human impacts like pollution and underwater noise are often the culprits.

In remote areas, whale and dolphin strandings can go undetected for months, the cause of death unknown – a major problem when strandings can act as an early warning system for the health of our oceans. They can point to pollution or disease outbreaks, or hint at environmental change. Without proper monitoring, these signs may be missed.

That’s where satellites come in.

The satellite images shown here of a stranding on Chatham Island were taken by a satellite orbiting the beach over 600km away. They’re just one example from a new study led by BAS whale expert @pennyjclarke, which has shown for the first time that strandings of smaller species of whales and dolphins can be successfully detected and counted from space.

The grayscale image is from Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite imagery, which takes this even further. Using microwave radiation rather than visible light, they can image coastlines in darkness, or through thick cloud cover – so strandings can be spotted in any weather, day or night.

If satellite monitoring of strandings is adopted more widely, it’s good news for whale and dolphin conservation – it can help to:

🐳 Capture baselines and changes to stranding rates.

📈 Understand patterns in stranding events.

⏰ Enable faster responses to stranding events to help determine causes.

🌊 Alert conservation managers to concerns about population and ocean health.

With reports of whale and dolphin strandings on the rise, it’s important we use all the tools we can to help monitor and protect these magnificent species.

📸 Satellite: @vantor_tech, @airbus_space, @germanaeriospacecenter

📸 Aerial: @tamzin.nz

#MarineConservation #OceanHealth #WhaleStranding #Satellites

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So you’ve entered the competition to win a place on Project Jonah’s Marine Mammal Medic Course and are wondering what’s in that cool looking Sustained Fun Prize pack?

It’s a puzzle about Whale Poo and CO2!
Because, as I’m sure you’ll agree, there aren’t enough puzzles about whale fall.

#win #giveaway #projectjonah #whalefall #marinemammalmedic

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Win with our Project Jonah collab!
If you’ve ever wanted the skills to be able to help stranded marine mammals, enter our Project Jonah + Sustained Fun giveaway!

1st prize: 1 place on the Marine Mammal Medic Course, + Sustained Fun prize pack
2nd prize: 50% off 1 place on the Marine Mammal Medic Course + Sustained Fun prize pack
3rd prize: Sustained Fun prize pack

To enter:
1) Follow @sustainedfun and @projectjonahnz
2) Comment and tag a friend
3) Share for an extra entry

Small print
- Entries close midnight 26th September
- The winning places can be at courses in the 2026/27 season, at any location, after 1st October, subject to there being space on the course.
- Winning places can be either for an adult or student.

#win #giveway #marinemammalmedic #marinemammal #projectjonah

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Happy World Dolphin Day!

Images captured by @barekiwi in @kaikouranz

There’s something magical about being eye to eye with a wild dolphin in its natural environment.

Getting in the water with Kaikōura’s dusky dolphins has to be one of the most beautiful wild experiences I’ve ever done. I’ve joined the @dolphinencounterkaikoura crew countless times over the years and it always leaves me with the biggest grin. I truly rate it as one of my top must-do experiences in the world!

Whilst in Kaikōura every day is a day of gratitude for this unique relationship #worlddolphinday is a good day to shout about that; celebrating and appreciating all that is special about these intelligent animals.

Never knowing when or how they will choose to interact and knowing that it is their choice to do so when they do, is what makes those moments of connection so special.

@kaikouranz #WorldDolphinDay #Dolphin #Kaikoura #NewZealand

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So guys here goes.

An emotional rollercoaster of an experience.

On the 7th Jan 2026 55 pilot whales stranded at farewell spit. They were all refloated and around 40 swam out to sea and never re stranded 🙌🏽 but 15 kept re stranding over the next few days and that’s when I arrived to help.

It’s the only time I have ever called in sick to work and not been ill. I asked to go and explained my reasoning but I was told I couldn’t, but there are some things that are more important than work and corporate nonsense.

The stranding volunteers are incredible, some people shut their businesses to help, others who couldn’t help with the whales, helped by feeding and watering the volunteers providing pizza, water and biscuits 😋

This experience will stick with me for the rest of my life and it has shaped the way I am planning my future!

@projectjonahnz is an incredible charity and the two people run it are so passionate and they have an incredible team of volunteers that are on call 24/7 365 days a year.

If you have any questions about the video or anything you are wondering about, please let me know in the comments.

A moment I’ll never forget ❤️

When the decision was made to euthanise the whales, all the remaining volunteers gathered with the Doc rangers to say a karakia for them 🙏

Ko te Ha
Ko te Ra
Ko tangaroa
Ko Mana
Haumi ē! Hui ē! Tāiki ē!

I give my breath
To this day
With respect to the ocean
Make it so

#whale #dolphin #whalestranding #whales #volunteering

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Thank you to everyone who came and supported the Hauraki Sausage Sizzle and Sweets fundraiser in Week 11 💛

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🐋 WIN-WIN GIVEAWAY! 🐋
To celebrate Plastic Free July and our amazing partnership with Project Jonah for 9 years, we're giving one lucky winner the ultimate ocean-inspired prize pack! 💙🌊

You could WIN:
✨ Honeywrap Ten Wrap Family Pack (RRP $110)
✨ Honeywrap Organic Cotton Tea Towel (RRP $25)
✨ Project Jonah EUGY Humpback Whale (RRP $20)
✨ Project Jonah Marine Mammal ID Cards (RRP $10)
Total prize value: $165

A beautiful collection of eco-friendly goodies to help you reduce waste, learn more about New Zealand's incredible marine life, and support the protection of whales and dolphins. 🐋💛

To enter:
💙 Like this post
💙 Follow @honeywrap and @projectjonahnz
💙 Tag a friend in the comments (one tag per comment = one entry!)
💙 Get an extra entry if you share this post in your stories and tag both accounts

The more friends you tag, the more chances you have to win!
NZ residents only.
Giveaway closes Sunday 27 July at 11:59pm. Winner announced Monday 28 July.

💛 PLUS, throughout Plastic Free July, we'll donate $1 from every Honeywrap product sold to Project Jonah, helping us reach our goal of raising $2,000 to support their incredible work rescuing stranded whales and dolphins around New Zealand.

Together, let's make small swaps that create a big impact. 🌿🐋

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Hi Friends, we hope everyone is excited to celebrate the whales with us in a couple of weeks. Free entry, all welcome. Let us know if you’d like to be part of The Great Kaikōura Whale Count’s Whale Festival, July 26 at Memorial Hall 🐋💙

@projectjonahnz @dolphinencounterkaikoura @kaikourakayaks @kaikouranz

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