Massive whale washed up in New Zealand

Pygmy Blue whale washed up on Taranaki Beach. DOC

Weighed up to 80 tonnes

May 2011: A huge whale was washed up on New Zealand's South Taranaki Coast earlier this month.

The whale, thought to be a pygmy blue, was 22.5metres long and weighed about 80 tonnes. It is one of the largest to wash up along the coast for decades and was stranded at Waiinu beach, Waitotara on the South Taranaki Coast. The whale, measuring 22.5 metres in length and weighing approximately 60 - 80 tonnes is one of the largest to wash up on the coast in decades.

Locals either walked or made their way along the Waiinu beach in Waitotara in 4WD vehicles to get up close to the whale and were in awe of its size.

AWESOME: DOC Biodiversity Manager Jim Campbell records valuable information. Picture: Abi Wightman

The pygmy blue whale is a subspecies of the blue whale found in the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific. Reaching lengths of up to 24 metres it is smaller than the other more commonly recognised subspecies which reach 29 metres in length, hence its common name.

Second, smaller whale also washed up
Pygmy blues tend to be solitary, although groups of animals are found in areas of high productivity particularly in the northern Indian Ocean, off Sri Lanka and southern and western Australia. Blue whales are lunge feeders that rely on large concentrations of krill.

In addition to this, another whale has washed up a little further south - this time it was identified as a pygmy sperm whale. As a pygmy sperm whale it is one of the smaller whale species and was a relatively modest three metres long. It is not known how the whale died.