Protesters hit road as green message spreads

A flotilla of vessels at Opononi and Hokianga residents protest against deep-sea oil drilling off Northland. Photo / Lyndsey Davidson

An environmentally themed hikoi with sections on foot, by bike and by electric car is due to arrive in the Bay of Islands on Thursday in time for Friday's Waitangi Day festivities.

The hikoi is calling on the Government and foreign companies to "waiho Papatuanuku" - "leave Mother Earth alone" - and left Cape Reinga on Sunday.

"The message on the Hikoi ki Waitangi 2015 will be to the Crown, to Government and all foreign companies to 'Waiho Papatuuanuku', to leave our lands and seas alone," organiser Rueben Porter said.

The hikoi's route was Te Oneroa a Tohe/Ninety Mile Beach to Ahipara, where participants spent the first night, through Broadwood, Rawene, Waima and Kaikohe. At Kaikohe tomorrow the hikoi will have an electric car and electric bike escort through the main street.

It will be met near Kawakawa tomorrow evening by #STOPSTATOIL groups from Auckland and Whangarei and travel to Waitangi on Thursday where activist Mike Smith will lead discussions in the forum tent at Te Ti Marae.

A Norwegian Film crew will accompany the hikoi. Statoil is the Norwegian-owned company that has been given permission to explore for oil off Northland's west coast.

Meanwhile, a protest flotilla of vessels at Opononi on Saturday also delivered a message against deep-sea oil drilling off Northland.

The colourful flotilla was supported by onshore activities, with banners, speeches and music from local performers.

"Seismic surveying for Statoil has already taken place along the west coast and we have great concerns for the well being of wildlife out there," Hokianga Environmental Protection Group spokesperson Gail Aikens said.

"There is widespread agreement of how dangerous seismic surveying is, particularly for marine mammals and yet it is being allowed to happen along our shores."

Ms Aikens said the devastation caused by the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico was a warning of how badly things could go wrong.

But Statoil says while it can't guarantee no whales and dolphins will be harmed when it carries out seismic surveying for oil off Northland's west coast, it has not seen any marine mammal deaths in its 40 years of exploration around the globe.

Exploration vice-president Pal Haremo said Statoil took the potential impact on marine mammals seriously and the company followed all international and local regulations wherever it operated.