Kaiaua Whale Response - A Thankyou On the evening of 20 December 2018, local community, iwi, and DOC responded to the stranding of a 12.7 metre male humpback whale just south of Kaiaua. This is the first incident of a humpback whale stranding in the Firth of Thames (Tikapa Moana) in living memory. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts the tohor (whale) passed away before midnight Initial reports of a whale calf accompanying the adult were followed up by helicopter flights the next morning where nothing was found. We assume that if there was a calf, it made it safely back to deeper water. This is a thank you to those who helped and supported this Marine Mammal Stranding response: To the 'initial responders' who contacted the DOC hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) and along with Ngãti Paoa, Ngãti Whanaunga, Ngãti Hako, Kaiaua Fire and Emergency NZ volunteers and DOC, worked to care for the tohora through the night while waiting for the next high tide To those who provided expert local advice on who has what equipment locally and possible burial sites, the "little barge that could", those who helped with digging. To the NZ Coastguard, the "anchor loan" family, NZ Whale Rescue, contractors, cafes, and everyone else. Thank you all so much for your work. The cultural, spiritual and kiwi connection to tohora, was very evident and helped shape the response. On the afternoon of 22 December, we safely laid the whale to rest at a site north of Pükorokoro-Miranda We all learnt a lot from the Kaiaua whale stranding. DOC Hauraki are reviewing all aspects of our systems and protocols to improve the process for next time The tohora was unofficially named Te Hononga by Anahere Fraser whose tribal affiliations are Ngäti Paoa, Ngti Hako, Ngãti Tamaterã. Anahere was helping on Saturday 22nd December to bring the whale higher up the beach. She named it Te Hononga to signify the joining together of iwi locals, contractors and DOC during an emotional time. Kind Regards and thank you all again, Avi Holzapfel, Operations Manager On behalf of the team at DO Hauraki Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai