An adult humpback whale, similar to this, has been spotted tangled up in a rope in the Bay of Islands, with DoC assessing whether it's safe to get close enough to cut the rope off the marine mammal.
Department of Conservation staff and volunteers from Orca Research are in the Bay of Islands trying to asses if it's safe enough to help an adult humpback whale that is tangled in a rope.
DoC spokeswoman Abi Monteith said the agency was informed early this afternoon that the adult humpback
had been spotted in difficulty in the outer Bay of Islands.
DoC sent staff to the area and found the whale had become entangled in rope that was believed to be attached to a crayfish pot.
Monteith said Northland whale and orca expert Dr Ingrid Visser (who has experience if freeing whales caught in ropes), from Orca Research, had been contacted and was believed to be on her way to the Bay of Islands to help with the rescue operation.
''We are assessing whether it's going to be safe for humans to disentangle the whale and we're urging people to stay away from the area while we do this,' she said.
