Whales hanging out in Milford Sound

GUEST APPEARANCE: A young humpback whale made a rare visit to Milford Sound.

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A pair of young humpback whales have taken up residence at Milford Sound, with one operator saying they were probably drawn by a surge in the amount of plankton in the fiord.

Milford Real Journeys' operations manager Angus Small said the pair, believed to be two or three years old, were spotted on Friday and had been hanging around Anita Bay since.

While whales were occasional guests in the fiord, they had been visiting with unusual frequency in the past month, Mr Small said.

"It's not normal for them to come into fiord like this," he said.

"It is more frequent this year than it has been in the past."

Real Journeys was picking up a lot of krill in the part of their cruise boats that strains sea water used in the boat's engine. That increase in feed could have attracted the whales into the fiord, he said.

The Department of Conservation and other operators could not be reached for comment yesterday.

ben.heather@stl.co.nz

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