Humpback whales return to Cook Strait

1.00pm

The number of humpback whales migrating through Cook Strait appears to be recovering from the days of commercial whaling.

Preliminary results from the first systematic whale survey conducted in Cook Strait since the Tory Channel whaling station closed in 1963 report 53 whales seen by a research team or others.

The 15-day pilot project last month involved former whalers Joe Heberley of Okukari Bay in Tory Channel, Peter Perano and Tommy and Johnny Norton.

From a land-based lookout at the Tory Channel entrance -- used by whalers during the 1950s and 1960s -- they had worked from dawn to dusk in all weather conditions, spotted most of the whales and willingly contributed knowledge, a Department of Conservation report said.

The survey confirmed the presence of humpback whales migrating northward through Cook Strait in winter, providing the first systematic evidence indicating some recovery from whaling, DOC technical support officer Nadine Gibbs said.

The number of whales seen during the survey was similar to numbers reported for the same period during the 1950s.

During the study period, 38 pods of whales had been seen, most being humpback but blue and sei whales were also seen. A vessel-based research team collected 10 photo identifications and 11 genetic samples from humpbacks.

These photos and biopsy samples will be compared with more than 1000 individually identified whales in collections held by members of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium.

- NZPA