[Notes:Jan. 24, 2012][Notes:TVNZ - No Access New Zealand][Notes:Farewell Spit, New Zealand]OFF THIS BEACH IN NEW ZEALAND ... A MASS-STRANDING OF WHALES HAS LEFT 36 OF THE CREATURES DEAD ... AND 40 MORE THREATENED.SOME 99 PILOT WHALES STRANDED THEMSELVES ON FAREWELL SPIT ON THE SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND.[Notes:SUPER: Kimberly Muncaster, Chief Executive of whale rescue group Project Jonah]SOT: It's incredibly sad to see those that have died but our focus is always on the live ones so while we are going through the steps necessary to get those live ones refloated, that's where our energies lie.17 OF THE WHALES WERE REFLOATED ... SENT OUT TO DEEPER WATER.AND TO KEEP THEM FROM COMING BACK ...[Notes:SUPER: Nigel Mountford, Conservation Department Ranger]SOT: The wet-suited people will all form around the back and try and form a human wall to stop the whales coming back to shore.BUT SUCCESS WAS ONLY TEMPORARY ... SOME WHALES BACK IN THE WATER BRIEFLY ... THEN BEACHED AGAIN.SOT: Golden Bay is one of New Zealand's most notorious whale strandings. It's a whale trap. We've got a long finger of sand that literally juts right out in the migration path of these animals.[Notes:NATS NATS NATS]FOR NOW, VOLUNTEERS TRY TO KEEP THE WHALES COOL AND WET UNTIL DARK ... UNTIL THE NEXT HIGH TIDE ... WHEN WATER MAY LET THEM SWIM OUT TO SEA.LEE POWELL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS(****END****) ANCHOR VOICE: -------------------------VIDEO PRODUCER: ---------------------------VIDEO SOURCE: TVNZ-----------------------VIDEO APPROVAL: ----------------------------VIDEO RESTRICTIONS: No New Zealand----------------------------------MARKET EMBARGO (S): --------------------------------SCRIPT/WIRE SOURCE: APTN-New Zealand Whales 2