Non-lethal whale research voyage

Whale-friendly international scientists are due to return to Wellington on Monday with data they hope will show the mammals can be comprehensively researched without being slaughtered.

New Zealand research ship Tangaroa sailed on February 2 with 17 scientists from New Zealand, Australia and France, to tag, collect tissue and faecal samples and record whales in the Southern Ocean as part of a collaborative research voyage.

The voyage, the first for the Southern Ocean Research Partnership, was designed to show that using existing technologies scientists can learn a lot about whales without having to kill them.