The Department of Conservation is looking at new procedures for dealing with trapped whales after a Kaikoura diver died last month trying to free a humpback whale.
Tom Smith died while trying to untangle the whale from a craypot line.
The department's South Marlborough area manager, David Hayes, said staff were in
touch with Queensland authorities, who had developed techniques and equipment for freeing humpback whales entangled in shark nets.
DoC staff would study whether those techniques could be used to free whales caught in craypot lines.
The department was also asking the Kaikoura community to co-operate with guidelines on how to deal with entanglements so lives were not endangered, he said.
People should not try to free an entangled whale. Instead, they should contact DoC and stay clear so the whale would not become stressed.
Mr Hayes said trapped whales might show signs of distress, but in most cases their lives were not in immediate danger.
No one should get in the water close to whales, because they could make sudden movements resulting in severe or fatal injury.
DoC had also contacted the Fisheries Ministry to discuss ways of reducing the incidence of whales getting caught in lines.
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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