A tailless humpback whale has been spotted off New Zealand.
The whale was first seen on March 14 off the coast of Kaikoura on the north-east coast of South Island.
It was not clear how it came to lose its flukes, said local Department of Conservation ranger Mike Morrissey, but “it could have been the result of entanglement” in fishing nets.
Despite what looks like a severe injury, the whale seemed to be doing fine.
Photo Department of Conservation
Whales are sometimes caught in fishing gear, which can injure or kill them.
The tears appear to have happened at least a year ago, Mike Morrissey added, as the images show little sign of open wounds.
It is the first time anyone in the area has seen a whale like it, he added, but he held out hope it might return.
Humpback whales have begun their annual migration from Antarctic feeding grounds to breeding grounds in the South Pacific.
Anyone who spots the whale is asked to report it to the Department of Conservation on
+64 800 36 24 68, so it can be tracked.
A woman on a surfboard and two people aboard a kayak were almost swallowed by a humpback whale that charged out of the water near Santa Cruz, California.
The incident is one of several recent close calls in the area, where a small pod of humpback whales has been surface lunge-feeding on anchovies unusually close to shore.
They’ve become a major draw for kayakers and boaters and at least one kayaker has been capsized, and a sailboat was struck by a whale.
A woman on a surfboard and two people aboard a kayak were almost swallowed by a humpback whale that charged out of the water near Santa Cruz, California
This circus atmosphere has led to an enforcement presence in an attempt to keep people at a safe distance from the potentially dangerous leviathans.
“We had our enforcement guy out on the Harbor Patrol boat yesterday trying to clear people away from the whales,” Paul Michel, superintendent for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Wednesday.
“We were out there again today on the water but of course the whales moved off. Once the bait fish went away the small pod dispersed. Wherever there is food they will be, so they could come back and we will keep enforcement going through the weekend.”
Officers with the California Department of Fish and Game and Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol also have been on the water cautioning boaters and kayakers, explaining that the whales are protected by federal law and harassing them in any way can draw fines of between $2,500 and $32,000.
People for the most part were being cooperative.
Humpback whales, which can measure to 50 feet and weigh 40 tons, are easy to locate because while feeding, they herd giant schools of anchovies to the surface, and birds diving on the bait fish give away the presence of whales. When the whales are lunge-feeding vertically, breaking the surface with open mouths spilling with anchovies, they’re nearly impossible to miss from any nearby vantage point.
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