A juvenile whale has died after becoming trapped under a boat ramp at Hobsonville Point.
General Manager of Project Jonah Daren Grover received calls from the public about the whale around 2pm this afternoon.
The whale had died by the time the Department of Conservation and Project Jonah crews arrived.
Grover says it’s likely the whale was caught in an incoming tide and drowned.
The whale’s believed to be a young Antarctic minke. These whales are usually 8-10m in length but this one was just 4m long.
“It looks like it was recently weaned from its parents," Grover says.
The whale also received sharp abrasions from thrashing against the oyster shells that line the ground.
Antarctic minke whales normally swim in deep waters. The Hauraki Gulf is relatively shallow, which Grover believes caused the whale to become confused and disoriented.
Grover says there have been two minke sightings in the Hauraki Gulf over the last 10 years.
Local iwi have blessed the whale and Massey University scientists are taking samples.
SHARE ME