Tuesday, 23 September 2008
YOUNGSTERS were treated to a vision of “wonderment and awe” as a whale decided to scout the waters off Ohope beach yesterday.
Ohope Beach School principal Simon Akroyd said a parent had called the school with news of the sighting toward the end of lunchtime.
“So we said, ‘Let’s all go down and have a look’,” he said.
Teachers and students had headed to the beach, deciding the whale was “not an orca”.
“It might have been a humpback,” was one opinion. We did not see all of it - but it had a huge head and it flipped its tail.”
Mr Akroyd said while students would not be given an assignment to write about the whale, it was an experience of “wonderment and awe”.
Kayaker Steve Gore said that he and two other kayakers had paddled to within five metres of the whale.
“I was out there looking at kahawai doing their thing when the whale arrived,” he said.
“It was awesome - it was interested in something on the bottom and lifted its tail a lot.”
A boat had also come close to the whale, which was not frightened but “just doing its thing”.
“However, there was some concern it might accidentally lift its tail and swipe someone,” Mr Gore said.
“The tail was about three metres across and it hit the water with a huge bang.”