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| (CNN February 15, 2015) 'Rescuers on Saturday refloated 66 pilot whales stranded on a remote beach in New Zealand as a race to save their lives continued. Nearly 200 whales were beached Friday in Farewell Spit on New Zealand's South Island. Scores got back in the water, only to return to land -- leaving more than 100 dead. When the incident started, 140 conservationists and experts rushed to water down the giant mammals, cover them and try to refloat them back into the water. "Refloating stranded whales is a difficult and potentially dangerous job," said Andrew Lamason, the department's services manager for Golden Bay.' Photo source: BBC, February 14, 2015 |
conservation nuts pilot whales
stranded in shallows harder
than the decks of wooden boats
though no less shark infested
fished by a moon
they drill in lines
like infant schools
reciting quadrilles
of revolting poetry
do as we say not as we don't
such human sounds not just
their spluttered song but
of death throes letting out
Philip Lee, originally from Liverpool in the UK, has lived in Bursa, Turkey for over two decades. The broken sonnet is his most common medium.