Whale and calf visit Waiwera

A southern right whale. File photo / Mark Mitchell

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A southern right whale and its calf are attracting lots of attention in Waiwera, north of Auckland.

The whales have been in the area for about a week and are quite close to shore, but conservators say there are no fears about beaching.

Thelma Wilson, Department of Conservation mainland biodiversity programme manager, said this breed of whale was used to very shallow waters.

"They do tend to freak people out because they're quite a large whale, but they're very adept at adapting to ocean tides," she said.

"They can swim in a few metres of water quite happily, and there seems to be a reasonable amount of food for them here.

"I heard they even went up the Waiwera River last night."

Ms Wilson said the DOC team took a biopsy DNA skin sample from the calf last week and they were heading to get one from the mother today.

"We have a programme of getting biopsies of whales off the New Zealand coast, to find out whether they stick to the New Zealand coast or the sub-Antarctic islands.

"We go out in a boat and use a dart gun to get the skin sample."

- NZPA