10 Aug 2018

Fishing rāhui placed on beach where whales died

4:28 pm on 10 August 2018

Northland's Te Roroa iwi has placed a rāhui or ban on the collection of shellfish and fishing on the beach where two humpback whales died this week.

Attempts to rescue the whale after two days of being stranded at Ripiro Beach have failed.

Attempts to rescue the adult humpback whale stranded at Ripiro Beach were unsuccessful. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook

The rāhui stretches from Baylys Beach to Mahuta Gap, and is supported by the Department of Conservation (DOC).

DOC said the ban would last for at least the next few days as the carcasses deteriorated and was disposed of.

Tangata whenua are working at the site under the supervision of Ngāti Wai, to salvage culturally-valuable materials from the whales.

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