Authorities on the West Coast are still figuring out how to reprimand three men who stole a 23-million-year-old whale fossil from the banks of the Little Wanganui river on Labour day.
Police recovered the fossil Tuesday from a man’s home at Granity, north of Westport.
“Police will continue to work with our partner agencies and iwi to return the taonga to the local Karamea community,” police said on Wednesday.