Whale watching off the Kaikoura coast should not be increased, says a University of Otago research team.
The Department of Conservation will consult interested parties this month on the results of four years of research into the impact of whale-watching activities on sperm whales off the Kaikoura coast.
It will
consider the university team's report over the next three months.
Decisions on the report's recommendations are expected by June 1, when a moratorium on further permits expires.
The moratorium was put in place while the research was done.
A public seminar will be held in Kaikoura on March 25, when researchers Christoph Richter and Stephen Dawson will present their findings.
The researchers have recommended that whale-watching activity should not be increased.
Three companies have permits for whale watching. They are Whale Watch Kaikoura, which uses boats, Wings over Whales, which uses planes, and Kaikoura Helicopters.
The report's release follows fresh controversy over whale watching after a dead sperm whale was washed up on the coast last week.
It was the second whale death in the area in three months, and the 11th since 1993.
Former Kaikoura whale-watching operator Gordon O'Callahan has called for a full-time marine mammal officer to patrol the whale-watching area. He believes too much human contact is killing the whales.
Mr O'Callahan's theory has been rejected by Whale Watch Kaikoura and the Conservation Department.
People have until April 15 to make written submission on the report.
- NZPA
nzherald.co.nz/environment
