KEY POINTS:
The latte-drinking cafe set along Lake Rd had probably never seen anything like it.
Moving along the road at a gentle pace towards Takapuna Beach was a 3.4-metre Orca whale on the back of a trailer.
And no less than the son and grandson of the late ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau were among onlookers who got a close-up view of the dramatic whale rescue at the North Shore Beach today.
The whale first became stranded yesterday at Huia beach, west of Auckland.
In an unusual move, the whale was transported today by road to be released off the North Shore beach.
The whale was described as a 3.4 metre juvenile female of about three years old and had seen beached since 3pm yesterday.
It was looked after overnight by Project Jonah and Department of Conservation staff.
Department spokesman Bill Trusewich said the whale was small enough to be handled and a decision was made this morning to move it by trailer to Takapuna, on Auckland's North Shore.
The reason was that the waters would be calmer at Takapuna than at Huia.
The 43km journey took about 90 minutes.
Department spokesman Bill Trusewich said the whale appeared to be in good health during the whole episode.
Jean-Michel Cousteau and son Fabien, who are guests of New Zealand orca researcher Ingrid Visser, are in New Zealand shooting footage for a television programme.
- NZPA
