Napier surfers defy coastline rāhui

Surfers between the beaches of Ahuriri and Westshore today. Photo / Warren Buckland

Surfies have returned to Westshore and Ahuriri despite a rāhui that remains in place until next Monday.

On one of the better days of the last month surf-wise, two boardriders were savouring the challenge of the waves off the entrance to the Napier inner harbour on Tuesday, although there are warnings to still give much of the coastline a wide berth for recreation and seafood gathering because of health risks associated with the floodwaters, with carcasses and debris flowing into the sea from the rivers and the ongoing need for Napier to pump raw sewage into the ocean at Awatoto.

The rāhui remains in place until at least next Monday.

Similar warnings were put in place on February 2 after thousands of perished specimens of sealife washed ashore on the coast, mainly at Ahuriri, ultimately thought to have been victims of a three-month algal bloom clouding the coast, and also other storm impacts prior to Cyclone Gabrielle, which ravaged Hawke’s Bay from February 12-14.

The rāhui was put in place on February 19, initially because of deaths in the floodwaters spewing into the sea during the cyclone but also because of health risks associated with debris, including contamination.

Hawke’s Bay Boardriders Club’s Keri McKenzie, a Napier resident and a North Island representative on the board of Surfing New Zealand, said the organisation respects the rāhui, as do its members, but it has no sway over those who aren’t members. Hawke’s Bay Boardriders Club has three planks of operation: in surfing, in the community and in the environment.

She says surfing is seen by many surfers as good for mental health and - including those who’ve suffered significant losses in the impact of Gabrielle - they feel a need to “just get out there in the ocean”.

club members are currently more active on land, and on Tuesday start weekly after-school and after-work Cyclone Gabrielle Boardrider Family Clean Ups, helping clear sections and repair damage, which they expect to be doing one day a week for the rest of the year.

Late on Tuesday, about 15 members were heading out to help on an orchard.

Amid the outfall of the storm, health authority Te Whatu Ora Hawke’s Bay urged people to keep safe while walking along beaches and rivers after a flood event, and to keep out of water because of the risks of contact with contaminated or dangerous objects.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council director communications and engagement, Mike Johansson, said council staff are about to resume water testing but won’t have data for several days.

“For now, no one should be in the ocean,” he said.

A Napier City Council spokesperson said the council is still advising residents not to swim, play or fish in any waterway or coastline within the council boundaries.