In late 2022 a large Sperm Whale body was found washed up at Matapaua. With the assistance of public funds, it was then towed to Wharekaho where large quantities of blubber were removed for later rendering into sperm whale oil. The teeth and jawbone were also removed as these items have great cultural significance to Iwi. Large quantities of spermaceti (the wax like oil in the massive head of a sperm whale) were also recovered. It is not clear why it was necessary to remove the whale from its resting place and dump it on another beach some 12 kilometres away.
The carcass was later buried in the beach at Wharekaho. During and after the course of the carcass processing and subsequent burial there was a great deal of angst amongst locals due to the enforced closure of the beach and the potential for pollution from the decomposing remains. There was a great deal of public interest including stories in both the mainstream media and across the Peninsula.
On average an adult Sperm Whale contains thousands of litres of spermaceti and thousands of kilos of whale blubber. It is not unusual to find Ambergris, a byproduct of the Sperm Whales digestive system, in a sperm whale.
These products, apart from their cultural use, have an enormous commercial value largely in the use of cosmetics.
Currently Ambergris is valued at around $40,000 a kilo and the market in spermaceti both natural and synthetic is close to a billion-dollar industry. Interestingly the trade in sperm whale products is banned in most countries due to international whaling bans and the fact that the sperm whale is an endangered species.
A number of locals including senior members of our local Iwi are now asking questions as to what happened to the whale by-products including the teeth, the jawbone, the spermaceti, the whale oil and any ambergris that may have been recovered.
At last reporting, the by-products were being processed at the local marae but after that I am advised the trail went cold. I am not suggesting for one minute that the remains have been used for anything other than cultural purposes but due to local and public interest and the expenditure of public funds, it would be great to get an update on what happened.
