The Matariki fireworks display planned for Wellington on Saturday night has been postponed until next weekend due to the presence of a southern right whale in the harbour.
The Wellington City Council made the announcement yesterday afternoon.
"The advice we’ve received is that the noise from the fireworks is unlikely to cause harm to the whale but that it could cause it to act unpredictably if it is in the vicinity,’’ Acting Mayor Jill Day said.
‘‘We don’t want anyone in boats or kayaks on the water, in the dark, to come off second-best if the whale breaches among them.
‘‘Hopefully, by next weekend the whale will have departed the inner harbour and headed to Petone or Eastbourne or out into Te Moana-o-Raukawa [Cook Strait].’’
Ms Day said there had been strong iwi and public support in favour of postponing the display.
‘‘Wellingtonians have fallen in love with this whale - this taonga - and they’ve been telling us they don’t want anything untoward to happen to it,’’ she said. ‘‘The whale’s presence is a true blessing for Matariki.’’
Meanwhile, police are reminding whale-watchers they cannot stop their cars on the motorway shoulder to try to catch a glimpse of the mammal.
“We understand that people are keenly interested in viewing our special harbour visitor, and we certainly don’t want to stand in the way of that,” a police spokesperson said on Saturday.
“However we do need people to be safe about it and we have had several near-misses on the motorway already today. So please, if you are out and about for a bit of whale-watching today, head to a designated parking spot before getting out of the car.”
People RNZ spoke to were firmly in support of postponing the event if the whale was still in the harbour come today.
‘‘I’d rather see whales than fireworks any day of the week,’’ one man said.
‘‘I think they should definitely, even if they’re not entirely sure if he’s there. It would be much nicer to think he wasn’t going to be disturbed,’’ a woman said.
‘‘If the whale is still here I’d cancel it - protecting the wildlife is more important,’’ another man said.
- RNZ and NZME
