Wharekaho Beach in the Coromandel has been placed under rāhui after a dead sperm whale was found beached on Saturday morning.
The whale was found in Matapaua Bay and has been named Puhiwau Rangi by Ngāti Hei, which refers to the whenua next to the bay.
Ngāti Hei kaumātua Joe Davis said the iwi was working with its whanaunga Ngāti Wai iwi and they were planning to harvest the whale for its resources.
“The whale has died a natural death. We don’t know from what yet but we’ve decided, rather than bury it, that we would take advantage of the taonga that once again Tangaroa has presented to us."
Davis said that they believe the whale should live on through waiata, haka and for toi Māori artist's carvings.
Matapaua Bay whānau had shared a variety of emotions because of the significant event.
Davis said “it brought a lot of people peace as well; generally we are all smiles at the moment, everyone is happy and we’ve all had a good kai and now we are moving forward on this kaupapa”.