Worried scientists want the public to report whale sightings

The southern right whale could be lost to New Zealand waters for ever if a Department of Conservation theory is correct.

DoC is seeking information from the public to confirm speculation that the 23 whales identified from New Zealand sightings could be a different population from the 850 identified in the subantarctic islands.

Nelson-Marlborough conservancy marine specialist Andrew Baxter said the whales could be identified from the growths on their heads, called callosites, which were like thumb-prints or individual signatures.

So far none of the 23 whales identified in New Zealand waters match the 850 recorded sightings in the Auckland and Campbell subantarctic islands, giving rise to fears that they may be a small, separate group.

"What is particularly concerning is that there appears to be only a hand-ful of breeding females," said Mr Baxter.

The whales in a specific population would go repeatedly to the same areas.

"If you are looking at 30-odd animals in the New Zealand area and only six to 12 females, ultimately there is the risk we might not see them ever again in the New Zealand area."

Information from the public was urgently needed to determine whether the whales were a separate population. Photographs of the left side of the head were particularly useful for identifying individual whales.

Southern right whales are generally sighted along the east coast of the South Island, Cook Strait and the Marlborough Sounds. They are also thought to migrate up the west coast of the North Island.

It is estimated that there were once 17,000 right whales around New Zealand, but they were hunted almost to extinction.

Southern right whales grow up to 18m in length. They are black and are easily identified by lack of a dorsal fin and the callosites on their heads.


- NZPA