An orca whale that washed up on Whakatane's Piripai Spit has been buried whole in a nearby urupa despite researchers wanting to perform an autopsy on the 2-tonne mammal.
The 18- to 20-year-old male orca was discovered by locals from the Whakatane suburb of Coastlands at 9am on Monday.
Mike Jones from
the Department of Conservation said the whale was 5.9m long.
"We believe the whale was one of a pod of four that was seen by Coastlands and Ohope residents during the weekend," Mr Jones said. "However, unless someone has some close-up photos, we cannot be sure of that."
Orca researcher Ingrid Visser came to Whakatane hoping to be able to perform an autopsy on the orca which was initially agreed to by local iwi.
"On Monday we consulted with Ngati Awa as we are tasked to do and they agreed an autopsy could take place," Mr Jones said.
He understood an autopsy meant an examination of the stomach contents of the whale, a CT scan of its head and testing of blood samples among other things.
On Monday night the four marae and hapu of the area met and discussed the whale.
"I believe two of the marae were happy for an autopsy to happen but the rest were not," Mr Jones said.
Ngati Awa cultural advisor Pouroto Ngaropo said sea creatures were spiritual guardians of the people of the land.
"This whale is a message that has been sent to us," Mr Ngaropo said. "The last orca whale to come ashore we [Ngati Awa] know of was when Te Tahi-o-te-rangi rode a whale from Whakaari [Whale Island] to the mouth of the Whakatane River."
Te Tahi-o-te-rangi was a famous whale rider who, according to local history, rode a whale-shaped taniwha called Tutarakauika to the mainland.
"Because of the whale's connection to the people of the land, it must be buried with its ancestors in the sacred urupa Opihi," Mr Ngaropo said.
Locals remained with the whale throughout Monday and yesterday until Mr Ngaropo performed a karakia (blessing) before it was buried at Opihi.
Ms Visser was given permission to take a sample of blood and a small piece of the fin for research purposes.
