A whale ventured into the lower Otago Harbour near Port Chalmers yesterday, just two days after a pod of four southern right whales was spotted off the Otago coast near Moeraki.
But the whale in the harbour had a dorsal fin, so could not be a southern right whale, Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Jim Fyfe said.
Its species remained a mystery last night.
''Other candidates include the humpback whale, but it's a bit early for humpback whales with calves to be coming south from the tropics,'' Mr Fyfe said.
The department was notified about sightings of a southern right whale pod, which included a calf and its mother, off Katiki Beach near Shag Point on Wednesday.
The sightings, south of Moeraki, were followed by another report of whales seen off the coast at Karitane on Wednesday evening.
''We believe they were the same whales,'' Mr Fyfe said.
Usually, southern right whales navigated Otago's coast in winter, so it was late in the season for sightings, he said.
''It's not entirely unusual, but it's mating season now. We haven't had a great number of southern right whale sightings through the winter this year, so it's good to know we've still got some.''
