Baleen whale washed up on Ohawe beach in South Taranaki, New Zealand

Whale washed up

JARED SMITH

25/05/2012

A dead whale has been washed up onto Ohawe beach in South Taranaki.

The rocks and waves along Ohawe Beach will be the final resting place of a baleen whale after it was discovered washed up on this week.

The whale was discovered washed up about 10 minutes walk from the Ohawe boat ramp, near Hawera.

Baleen whales have baleen plates for filtering food from water, rather than having teeth.

ANDY JACKSON

 A dead whale has been washed up onto Ohawe beach in South Taranaki.

There are multiple species, but Department of Conservation officers were not able to identify the whale due to its poor state.

”It’s fairly decomposed so it’s been floating around for a while. It’s got shark bites and things like that on it,” said DOC community ranger Mike Tapp.

”They’re just going to have to leave it there, it’s better to leave it than to try and bury it,” said Mr Tapp.

”Their bones get quite soft so it’s not the sort of ones that you use for carving, the jaw bone’s not as [strong].”

A genetic sample has been sent to the University of Auckland for analysis.

In February this year a shark-ravaged orca carcass was spotted bobbing off the coast of Taranaki.

Just over 12 months ago a 22.3m-long pygmy blue whale died after stranding on Wainui Beach.

stuff.co.nz

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