A Goose Bay local says they witnessed a whale within "two or three hundred yards" from the tragic boating accident in Kaikōura yesterday.
Five people died after the boat, with 11 on board, capsized off Goose Bay.
Kevin Anderson said while the rescue was still unfolding he saw a whale heading north, diving under the water within two or three hundred yards from the vessel.
The retiree said there was nothing else near the vessel at the time and the sea was dead calm.
In the 20 years he's lived in the area Anderson said he had never seen anything like this.
"We were watching the television and because we had the glare, I had the blinds down and when we'd finished watching we put the blinds up and there's this boat upside down just out here. And there were five or six people clinging to the top of it."
Kevin Anderson said he then saw a white boat heading towards the upturned vessel and picking up all but one of the people.
After this he told the Herald the coastguard arrived and the remaining man on the boat indicated to them with his hands that there were four or five people still under the boat.
"We could see that clearly from here we had the telescope clearly on it."
He said he spotted the whale shortly after the Coastguard arrived.
"We were just in shock, we just sat here and just watched the whole thing. Nothing we could do, we had all the emergency services down there."
Anderson said they only see whales near their home "once or twice" a year, and they normally do not go close to boats.
"Terrible, terrible, terrbile tragedy that's just out of the blue, there's nothing you can do."
Investigations into the tragedy are underway by Maritime NZ, Police and Transport Accident Investigation Commission.
Maritime NZ investigators will involve reviewing the conditions on the day, examining the vessel and interviewing people involved.
"We will conduct our investigation with the utmost sensitivity for those involved," Maritime NZ said.
TAIC is calling for any witnesses to come forward. Two investigators are assigned to secure evidence, talk to witness, examine any electronic evidence available and look at the circumstances of the incident.
A photography society has also spoken of the "tragic loss" of five of its members in a boating accident in Kaikoura.
"The Nature Photography Society of New Zealand is saddened by the tragic loss at sea in Kaikoura during a trip by society members that took the lives of 5 of our members," the group said on its Facebook page this morning.
"We do not yet know what caused the vessel to capsize and that is something that will be addressed by Maritime NZ in due course."
However, earlier in the day Kaikōura's mayor Craig Mackle said he believed the boat had hit a whale.
The police dive squad recovered the five who had been found dead in the vessel, Sergeant Matt Boyce said.
"We are in the process of identifying those people and our next job is to notify their next of kin."
The vehicle was damaged while later being towed and an $11k claim by the owner followed.