Rescuers in New Zealand use buckets and towels to save stranded dolphins

As many as seven common dolphins that were stranded on a remote beach off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, were saved by rescuers on Friday.

At least nine dolphins were spotted gasping for air at Whakanewha Bay on Waiheke Island following low tide, according to the Department of Conservation. The rescuers managed to save seven of them, while two died before they could be floated back to the sea.

The rescuers included volunteers from Project Jonah, a group that specialises in rescuing stranded whales and dolphins, and members of the Waiheke community. The volunteers used buckets of water and wet towels to keep them hydrated until the tide rose sufficiently to refloat them.

They doused the dolphins in water and covered them in makeshift wet blankets made from towels and large fern fronds to make them comfortable, according to a report in The Independent.

The Department of Conservation revealed that the rescue efforts continued late into the evening on Friday, with several locals pitching in to help in the rescue.

In a statement, the department said: "The remaining dolphins had been successfully refloated, and had left the bay and were last seen heading out to deeper water." However, two of the dolphins, one adult and a calf, died following the stranding. The dead dolphins were later sent to Massey University for necropsy.

Project Jonah, shared the details of the rescue operation in a post on Facebook. It read: "This was a huge combined effort from our medics, Department of Conservation staff, Iwi and members of the public."

It is not uncommon in New Zealand to find dolphins stranded on beaches. Hundreds of mammals are found on its shores each year. The country has the world's highest stranding rate of dolphins and whales. Several beaches in the country, especially the remote Farewell Spit, are hotspots for marine mammal strandings.

The reason behind this remains unknown. The worst stranding occurred in February 2017, when almost 700 pilot whales got beached at Farewell Spit, resulting in 250 deaths.