Peter Charles Hockley was one of five who died in a boating accident during a trip off Goose Bay on Saturday.
The 8.5m boat capsized with 11 people on board after reportedly hitting a whale.
Although he lived in Christchurch, Mr Hockley spent time at his Otematata bach and was well known throughout the community.
Otematata Residents’ Association chairman Steve Dalley said Mr Hockley was an avid wildlife photographer who spent a lot of time taking photos in the area.
He was a quiet and humble man, but always supported the community.
The annual Christmas fundraiser calendar was created using Mr Hockley’s photography and he had donated framed prints to be raffled off.
He was an active advocate for the area’s wetlands and birdlife.
"He was very much respected in this community."
Last night, one of the other victims was named as Cathye Haddock, of Lower Hutt.
Ms Haddock’s husband Peter Simpson told Stuff his wife — who worked at the Ministry of Education and loved the outdoors — was with a longtime friend, also from Lower Hutt, on the wildlife photography excursion.
Mr Simpson said he was notified of Ms Haddock’s death on Saturday while on a motorcycle trip with friends.
According to the Nature Photography Society of New Zealand’s president’s column for August this year, Ms Haddock had only become a member of the group last month.
In a post to Facebook, society vice-president Richard Hensby said the five people who lost their lives were members.
"Our thoughts are with the families of those members of the society who have lost their lives."
Police could not confirm it was a whale that caused the boat to flip, saying the vessel had collided with "something" but they were speaking to a number of people to find out what had happened.
Local man Kevin Anderson said while the rescue was still unfolding he saw a whale heading north, diving under the water within 200m-300m of the vessel.
Sergeant Matt Boyce said the police dive squad recovered the five who had been found dead in the vessel.
It was an "unprecedented event" which involved a significant response from emergency services and members of the public.
The skipper went to hospital but police do not believe he was injured.
The pilot of the first rescue helicopter at the scene said he saw no-one in the water when he arrived.
"It’s a terrible thing — it’s something you don’t want to see with people in the water," Kaikoura pilot Daniel Stevenson said.
Just before he arrived, a pleasure craft got to the scene and grabbed the first group of people that were outside the boat and took them back to shore.
Mr Stevenson said five people were rescued and one person was left sitting on the upturned hull of the boat.
The coastguard arrived shortly afterwards. They jumped into the water but could not get under the boat and requested a diver.
Mr Stevenson flew back to Kaikoura, picked up a diver and hovered beside the upturned vessel.
"They jumped into the water out of the helicopter to see if there was anyone trapped inside the vessel," Mr Stevenson said.
Maritime NZ principal investigator Tracy Phillips said the organisation had sent two investigators from Christchurch to Kaikoura.
"Any investigation activity will commence only after rescue/recovery operations have concluded.
"We’ll be conducting a thorough investigation under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Maritime Transport Act and we’ll do everything we can to support NZ police in their investigation."
Additional reporting The New Zealand Herald
