Two people were rescued in a dramatic operation after a fishing boat ran aground near Dunedin last month.
There were large swells at Taiaroa Head that day, and Tamahine struck the ground at about 7.30 am.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and a helicopter was scrambled to pick up those on board. Hato Hone St John then sent an ambulance and a rapid response vehicle.
The two people were rescued and are back on land, with one being flown to Dunedin Hospital in a moderate condition. A second patient was assessed and treated by St John at the scene but did not need to be taken to hospital.
A bystander who said they worked part-time on the boat drove to the scene after seeing reports online.
“It’s a real shame, it was a nice boat … and now it’s just totalled,” they said.
Otago Regional Council harbourmaster Steve Rushbrook said staff had visited the site the morning of the incident to check if any pollution had been released into the environment.
Conditions were too hazardous to get another boat near the grounded vessel to tow it off and effect salvage, so they could not salvage it that morning. The vessel had largely broken up by the afternoon, with debris scattered on the rocks and drifting to sea.
Anyone seeing wreckage or pollution within the harbour should report it to the harbourmaster, ORC advised, as the area where the boat ran aground, Taiaroa Head, is home to the royal albatross colony, the world’s only mainland breeding site for northern royal albatrosses.