A pod of about 45 false killer whales and bottlenose dolphins stranded on Sunday afternoon at Taylor’s Bay on Mahia Peninsula.The Department of Conservation is warning water-goers to be cautious near Mahia peninsula as the remains of stranded whales and dolphins may attract sharks.

Test results show the bloom was almost certainly to blame for mass deaths of kina as well as crayfish, starfish and sea cucumber which washed ashore at Hardinge Rd, including Sandy Beach, and on a small part of Westshore Beach eight days ago.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Council is taking tests and awaiting results from a likely algal bloom spreading across the sea off the Hawke's Bay coast. Coastwatchers say the reddish-brown discolouration has been growing over several weeks – visitors to the Bluff Hill lookout reported what may have been its early signs on January 31, when it appeared to be coming from a ship apparently circling at sea off the Port of Napier.