Pilots, boaties and beach users are being urged to keep their eyes peeled for the endangered southern right whale, which visits New Zealand shores in autumn and winter.
Reported sightings of the threatened species were important for its future, New Plymouth-based Department of Conservation marine expert Bryan Williams said yesterday.
There may
be only a handful of breeding females left.
"We think the whales may be in serious peril, so it's a real priority for us to find out more about their population dynamics," he said.
Good photographs of whales close to shore were invaluable. Dates and times of sightings, map co-ordinates and the composition and number of whales in the group were important.
Mr Williams said the whales were mainly black, with paddle-shaped flippers, no dorsal fin, V-shaped blowhole spray and with white barnacle-like growths on their head. During the breeding season most travelled down the east coast to the lower South Island and on to sheltered inshore waters around the subantarctic Auckland and Campbell islands.
However, sightings of the whales along the west coast and around mainland New Zealand meant it was possible there was a separate population.
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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