June

Humpbacks crowd NZ waterway

Humpback whales have been spotted in droves heading through Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand as they migrate to the warmer waters of the Pacific.

Former whalers who have been monitoring the migration say they have seen more of the gentle giants in two days than they did in two weeks of watching last year. In just two days spotters counted 21 whales moving through channel waters.

The annual migration happens around this time each year when the humpbacks leave behind the southern wintry conditions and make their way to the warmer waters of the Pacific ocean.

The group of former whalers began their whale-spotting exercise overlooking Tory Channel at the top of the South Island last weekend and say they haven't seen anything like this since whaling ceased in 1963.

The annual whale-spotting survey is in its fifth year and this would have been the last but for sponsorship from Austrian-based oil and gas company OMV New Zealand Ltd and Transact Management Ltd.

Friendly giants
Whale spotter Joe Heberley Of Okukari Bay in Tory Channel said the whales performed big tail slaps and rolled around on the water. "These have been the best two days since the whale-spotting project started," said Joe.

His wife Heather, who spends more time on the hill than at home on whale-spotting days, said it was exciting watching the humpbacks breaching.

"They fall back on to their backs flapping their flippers as if to say `here I am, guys'."

Seeing so many whales was a real boost for the old whalers, she said.

"Last year they were exhausted looking for whales, but now they are exhausted at seeing so many."

Dolphin Watch joins research
Dolphin Watch Ecotours is again involved in the research. Skin samples for DNA were taken from half of the mammals sighted over the past weekend, and photographs taken of some of the whales' tails.

The tail underside has a unique pattern, the "fingerprint" of the individual whale, Mrs Bott said.

There were many more smaller, active whales around this time, often unusually close to shore, she said.

A further three whales were seen passing by Tory Channel on Monday, but conditions had been storm force on Tuesday, so the project had a day off.

However, Mr Heberley still likes to be up before 6am to head up to the spotting hut where he’s joined by his former whaling mates, Ted and Peter Perano, Basil Jones and John Norton.

"We get up in the dark and go home in the dark, none of this office hours stuff," he said.