Blue whales reaffirm Tutukaka reputation | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Just weeks ago the Tutukaka coast was named one of the top three coastlines in the world and on Saturday one of the reasons why was on full display less than 1km from shore - three massive blue whales enjoying a cruise north.

Last month, National Geographic Traveller magazine said the Tutukaka Coast was one of the top three coastlines in the world, partly because of its abundance of wildlife.

And on Saturday trippers on a Dive Tutukaka boat saw first-hand that marine life in action as a pod of three blue whales - the world's largest animals - cruised north at a speedy eight to nine knots.

It was a rare sighting with Northland orca researcher and whale expert Ingrid Visser saying this was the first confirmed sighting of blue whales off the Tutukaka Coast for about 10 years and there had only been three in the past 20, although they are more commonly seen in the Bay Of Islands.

Dr Visser spotted the blue whales from her home while talking to staff from Dive Tutukaka who were on the water on their boat, which has a permit to approach marine mammals, caught up with the whales. One of the passengers, Kevin MacMillan, took photographs from about 100m away.

The smaller of the three whales was estimated to have been about 15m while the largest was about 25-30m. Blue whales grow up to 33m long and weigh up to 180 tonnes, with their tongues alone weighing as much as an elephant. They can live to be up to 80 years old.

Dr Visser said she spotted the whales about 800 to 900m off shore and as soon as she saw "the blow" - water spurting from the whales' blow hole - she knew what they were.

"There's nothing else that blows like a blue whale," she said.

Dr Visser would normally be straight out on to the water for such a rare event, but a broken boat left her frustratingly watching the mammals from land.

"I've got two whale researchers with me and they haven't seen blue whales, but we couldn't get out," she said.

Dr Visser said there had been reports in the past few weeks of blue whales in the Hauraki Gulf. She will check photographs of those whales to see if they are the same ones seen off Tutukaka.

Kate Malcolm, from Dive Tutukaka, said it was another example of just why the Tutukaka Coast had such a good reputation.

"In the past few weeks we've had orca surfing in the waves at Sandy Bay and pods of dolphins everywhere cavorting with people, a pod of about 50 pilot whales just off the coast and now blue whales," Ms Malcolm said.

"Another fantastic example of the Tutukaka Coast, and perhaps an example of why a Marine National Park would be a good idea."