Taranaki Police, alongside marine rescue agencies, will take part in a marine search and rescue exercise on March 19 and 20 North of New Plymouth.

The search and rescue exercise will take place in the Whitecliffs area, spanning from Urenui to Tongapörutu.

Participating agencies include Police, New Plymouth Coastguard, Cape Egmont Sea Rescue Trust, South Taranaki Coastguard, Surf Lifesaving NZ and LandSAR.

This is an opportunity for the different agencies to train together and to practice their search skills to work efficiently in an emergency situation in the marine and coastal environment.

The remoteness of the search area and exposure to both the wind and current will make this exercise particularly challenging.

Objects will be placed in the water on Friday, which will likely drift or come ashore for the search teams to locate on Saturday.

If a member of the public comes across one of these items, Police advise not to move it in order to make the scenario as realistic as possible for the searchers.

Items may be found in the following days should they not be recovered during the search.

Each item is clearly labelled and Taranaki Police should be contacted if found.

The Whitecliffs area has become popular for recreational fishing and in an emergency it may take some time to get rescue assets to the area. Police and Coastguard would like to remind everyone who takes to the water to familiarise themselves with New Zealand's Boating Safety Code.

We would like to thank the community for their understanding while the exercise is in progress.

Police and other marine rescue agencies we partner with are fully committed to ensuring the safety of our community and the safety of those who enjoy and work on our coast.

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