A whale has been brought into Tauranga Harbour on the bow of a ship.
The ship arrived at the Port of Tauranga at around 11.30am yesterday, with the whale hanging off the bow.
The whale is believed to be dead.
Department of Conservation staff it was a Bryde's whale and about 12m long.
DOC Tauranga Rotorua area operations manager Jeff Milham says it's a big whale.
DOC and port staff and tangata whenua had been at the scene during the afternoon to work out what to do with the whale.
The last Jeff heard the plan was to remove the animal from the bow of the ship, then secure it somewhere for the night.
A decision on what to do next would be made today.
-Additional reporting from Stuff.co.nz
9 comments
Wale
Posted on 05-10-2017 07:47 | By Christine1965
Poor thing
Snack time
Posted on 05-10-2017 09:51 | By MISS ADVENTURE
Where is a bunch of polar bears when you need them ... Orca's even.
Whale
Posted on 05-10-2017 10:21 | By Mein Fuhrer
Oil Beef Hooked
Wonder?
Posted on 05-10-2017 10:22 | By MISS ADVENTURE
If dead and scooped up or scooped up and died?
Speed restrictions needed?
Posted on 05-10-2017 11:56 | By Border Patrol
What a sad thing to see. Just reading related article in the Herald- apparently the whale died due to a collision with the ship. Hauraki have a speed limit to reduce this type of thing happening, but this boat didn't come from that direction - should the Tauranga Port be putting something in place around our inner coastal waters? They seem to be able to create their own rules regarding their operations, so how about imposing the same rule as the Hauraki area to stop our precious marine life being harmed. As the port gets busier with more ships, the odds of this happening again must surely increase?
Totally
Posted on 05-10-2017 14:41 | By kinakat
Agree with boarder control!Much sadness for the beautiful whale ,so unnecessary. I've livid in Tauranga all of my life and have never heard of such a horrible thing happening.A little bit strange how it happened almost on the Rena anniversary tragedy that happened six years ago.
Whale
Posted on 05-10-2017 18:15 | By Icon
So pleased Doc has consulted Iwi and not the rest of us. Naturally we all hate Whales and our Flora & Fauna. There goes the Beach BBQ.
@borderpatrol
Posted on 06-10-2017 08:30 | By maildrop
That's all too ridiculous for words, but I will try. Speed restrictions are not in place to protect whales, or fish. And amazingly they don't all live around harbours. There are some big oceans full of whales and fish. What about those marine creatures? Should we have speed restrictions on open waters? These ships are hardly speed machines. If the whale cannot detect this coming and move, hey presto. Sad, but let's not make more of it than it is. No action needed. The cotton wool brigade would have us all wearing hemp jandals, living in wig wams and eating leaves to try and stop $$$$ happening.
I wonder
Posted on 08-10-2017 08:38 | By overit
surely a healthy whale would hear the engines etc and move. Why would it get so close to be picked up by the bow nose. My guess was it was already dead.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.