A rare visit from a humpback whale to Tauranga Harbour gave marina staff a lunchtime surprise yesterday.

Tauranga Bridge Marina operations manager Anna Barnes was working when a colleague called to say a large humpback whale was nearby.

“I was like, ‘Surely not.’”

Her first thought was that it must be an orca chasing a stingray - a more common sight in the harbour.

Barnes ran to the waterfront and realised her colleague was right.

She said the whale lingered in the harbour north of the marina, near a State Highway 2 bridge and the Port of Tauranga, for about 15 to 20 minutes before disappearing.

Barnes had never seen a humpback whale before and said it was “pretty special”.

“It’s fascinating how it went under the water just for so long …”

Her video of the whale, posted to the marina’s social media on Thursday afternoon, has received hundreds of reactions.

Department of Conservation (DoC) biodiversity ranger Sarah-Lyn Wilson confirmed it was a humpback whale.

Wilson said DoC received reports of a large whale in the harbour about midday and followed up with witnesses before heading where the animal had last been seen.

She did not see the whale, but was able to identify it from the video.

While humpback whales could be spotted offthe Bay of Plenty, Wilson said it was unusual for one to venture into Tauranga Harbour.

She said it may have been exploring, or have become disoriented.

DoC’s immediate focus was making sure the whale could safely navigate back out to sea and avoid stranding.

She said large whales would find the Tauranga Harbour difficult to navigate, with shallow banks, multiple channels and heavy marine traffic. Humpback whales can grow to 15m long.

DoC alerted the Port of Tauranga to the sighting to reduce the risk of a vessel strike.

The port is New Zealand’s largest and has wharves on either side of the channel the whale used.

Wilson said no further sightings had been reported, suggesting the whale had likely returned to deeper water.

She said people who encountered whales must follow marine mammal protection regulations and stay at least 50 metres away.

Wilson encouraged anyone who spotted a whale or other large marine mammal in the harbour to contact the DoC hotline, 0800 DOC HOT.

Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.