Southern right whales were spotted "socialising'' at St Clair Beach in Dunedin yesterday.
Department of Conservation ranger Jim Fyfe said he was confident the whales "putting on the fine display'' were the same ones that swam at Second Beach on Thursday.
"It's fantastic and lovely to see them around here.''
The population of Southern right whales seemed to be "slowly increasing'' if recent feedback from a fisherman was anything to go by..
"He had seen more in the last 10 years than in the previous 20 years.''
He estimated the "young adult'' whales in Dunedin yesterday to be about 10m long.
"Everybody was being very well behaved and the people in the water were keeping a good distance.''
When the whales were at Second Beach last week, Dunedin man Sam Todd paddled out on a surfboard and touched one of them.
Doc's guidelines advised people to keep at least 50m from whales and at least 200m from a mother and calf.
Mr Fyfe declined to say if Doc was taking any action against Mr Todd for touching the whale.
"I have not been involved with that process,'' he said.
