A dead whale measuring about 7metres has been found off the coast of Papamoa Beach.
The whale, believed to be a sperm whale, that was spotted about 500metres off the coast of Papamoa Beach Road near Stella Place around 4pm on Monday has now washed ashore.
A dead whale on the beach near Stella Place carpark, Papamoa. Photos: Luke Balvert.
Police were called to the beach after they received reports of a capsized yacht.
Papamoa Surf Lifeguards Matt Strange, 19, and Hamish Smith, 18, went out in an IRB after spotting the whale from shore.
'There was a small black patch of skin and all of the rest was white,” says Matt.
He said conditions were rough which made the whale hard to find.
They managed to get within 50 metres of the whale when they began to smell it.
'It has been rotting for a while.”
Department of Conservation Tauranga Duty Officer Jeff Milham says they are responding to the whale and it depends on when the whale makes land as to what action will be taken.
'The first step is to keep the public away, then we will be notifying the local iwi to see what their desires are with it.
'Then depending we may do something with it tonight, or wait until tomorrow morning.”
Jeff says callers have reported the whale is a sperm whale, but he is unsure how big it is.
He says DOC first got reports of the whale off the coast at the weekend.
'We have been getting calls today as to where it is floating – which has all been off Papamoa.”
Do you have information on the whale? Phone 0800 SUNLIVE or email your photos to newsroom@thesun.co.nz
10 comments
whale tale
Posted on 04-02-2013 18:54 | By hapukafin
wot right does a iwi have over anyone else on a dead whale at sea or on land.its just another creature of the ocean that roames the world
hangi
Posted on 04-02-2013 20:15 | By glennieboy
May be the local iwi could put it in a hangi & take it to Waitangi ????
why iwi????????
Posted on 04-02-2013 20:35 | By Captain Sensible
What have the local iwi/mafia got to do with it??? Remember how the Maori wiped out Moas and other birds not so long ago so don't try to tell me that they have some special powers that communicate with dead whale spirits. I guess they will use traditional chain saws to get the valuable jaw bone out and then a few maori equivalents of 'hail marys' and then that will be it. Just saw on the TV news that they have just claimed the radio frequency for the new 4G network. The greed and fraud of these people is totally scandalous.
Doh
Posted on 04-02-2013 21:23 | By justice
Another DOC cock up!! why was it not destroyed/sunken while it was "off the coast in the weekend"?? Thanks rate and tax payers we will now pay for "the local iwi" to do as they please with it.
.
Posted on 05-02-2013 05:23 | By rosscoo
Let Maori decide Ha! They can't even sort out there own affairs. Due to arguments within there own party they talking about having the cleaning lady walk PM on to the Maree. So Lets just clean up the whale before the Maori makes a mochary of it.
.
Posted on 05-02-2013 08:25 | By charob
I agree with you all. yes why didnt they do something with it while at sea and let it dispose naturally. instead let it wash up on shore and cause health problems. any other animal,mammal are buried when they die so why not bury this. your are so right Justice in your words.
doh
Posted on 05-02-2013 09:39 | By hapukafin
it must have been dead for some time and decaying otherwise sharks would have been feeding on it
FLOATING ALONG
Posted on 05-02-2013 10:10 | By YOGI
The wahle could have died a wekk or two ago and perhaps 500 miles away so how possibly could IWI want to know about this, almost as crazy as all the claims that Ngati in 1922 said "none exist" like what has changed.
maori not conservationists
Posted on 05-02-2013 18:50 | By bresim
Well said Captain Sensible. How come some maori are able to bulldoze their way into situations where there is financial gain (whale jawbones are valuable)? But they 're not able to stand up against Titiwhai?
EASY REASONS
Posted on 10-02-2013 10:33 | By MISS ADVENTURE
Money in it or not, that is all there is to the IWI decision making process they have. You want Eco-sense from there then you are wasting your time for sure.
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