High winds postpone whale rescue

DOC staff approaching the whale that was freed from rope yesterday. Photo / DOC

High winds have postponed a Department of Conservation (DOC) effort to locate and free a second humpback whale tangled in rope off the Far North coast.

The 12-15 metre whale was spotted yesterday near Moturua Island, off the coast from the historic whaling town of Russell, with rope and a buoy in its mouth.

The same crew that released another humpback whale from netting and ropes yesterday, including Kaikoura's detangling expert Mike Morrissey, was hoping to help again today but 20 knot winds made finding the whale improbable.

DOC was appreciative of reports from tour boat operators in the Bay of Islands, DoC biodiversity programme manager Adrian Walker said.

"Two commercial tourism operators with much larger vessels are still able to operate, so we have asked them to keep an eye out and alert us of any sightings," said Mr Walker.

A DOC vessel and a navy vessel are also keeping an eye out for the animal and a team is on standby to head out if the weather improves.

The first humpback was spotted tangled in rope and debris in Doubtless Bay on Monday.

The `kegging' method, adopted from whalers, was successful in freeing the 30-tonne whale after a day-long battle.

The operation involves attaching ropes and buoys to the whale and waiting for it to tire before using a curved knife on the end of a long pole to cut the ropes.

It was unbelievable for two whales to be tangled in rope in Northland in one week, Ms Smith said.

Humpback whales were inquisitive by nature and liked to play with crayfish pots which was why they were getting tangled.

"It is a big problem in Eastern Australia and they have a code of practice for crayfishing. I would imagine that we would be monitoring the situation and potentially discussing that," she said.

There have been 10 entangled whales in the Kaikoura area in the past 10 years, and DOC staff in the area have received training in Australia and New Zealand on freeing the mammals using yesterday's method.

- NZPA