In December 2017 a dead female orca was brought up in the net of a deep-water trawl vessel, 30 nautical miles northeast of Banks Peninsula on the South Island of New Zealand.
A Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) observer on board the vessel took images and tissue samples before the orca was returned to the sea as required. The orca had suffered several deep lacerations, however, at the time it was not clear what caused those injuries although the initial analysis suggested they were inconsistent with either propeller strike, or injuries caused by the net. MPI is the public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing, managing and regulating fishing. The Fisheries New Zealand has now released its report on the 2017 orca death, stating it’s unlikely the fishing trawler hit the orca as the crew/observer onboard would have been aware of its presence and other pod members.
The orca belonged to the New Zealand coastal population and its condition once on board suggested that it had been dead for some hours before it was hauled up. There were numerous injuries including broken ribs and a broken spine, probably caused by being hit by a large container vessel or cruise ship – either killing it outright or incapacitated the animal and once its body likely sank to the ocean floor, it was subsequently retrieved in the fishing gear. The report said in the days before the orca’s capture/discovery, oil tankers and container ships were crossing that stretch of ocean near a busy shipping lane.
In 1990, MPI had also documented a dead orca being entangled via fishing gear which involved a Japanese surface longline vessel. Another orca was captured alive in nets in 2003 but that marine mammal was released alive.
