Endangered Southern Right Whales returning to Wellington

Southern Right Whales... are returning to NZ

These curious whales were over hunted... by not so eco-smart New Zealanders last century (umm ...ooooops?!)

From Teara.govt.nz: "By 1840 there were up to 1,000 whalers in New Zealand and whaling led the country’s economy." and "Some east coast stations operated sporadically into the 1850s and 1860s, but by then the great days of shore-based whaling were over. More than 100 whaling stations had been set up and much wealth produced. Charles Heaphy claimed that of the £224,144 worth of whale oil exported from Sydney in 1840, more than half came from New Zealand. But the shore whalers’ methods were ruinous to a long-term industry. As the naturalist Ernst Dieffenbach wrote: ‘The shorewhalers, in hunting the animal in the season when it visits the shallow waters of the coast to bring forth the young, and suckle it in security, have felled the tree to obtain the fruit, and have taken the most certain means of destroying an otherwise profitable and important trade.' "

From eske-style.co.nz: "The whales passed New Zealand on their migration from the Antarctic to the Pacific. With their arrival on the West Coast of New Zealand in early May they headed past Kapiti Island and the mainland, to pass through Cook Strait for Picton and Kaikoura to Cloudy Bay. During June the whales continue south towards Foveaux Strait, where they turned northeast heading for the Chatham Islands and the Pacific during the month of May.

Whaling was conducted in two ways, ocean (pelagic) and shore whaling. The first whaling to be introduced was ocean whaling, beginning in the 1790s and the species targeted were the Sperm and Humpback whales.

Shore whaling involved mainly the Southern Right whale, and was centred around the east coast of both main islands. Whaling had far reaching effects on New Zealand with intensive interaction between Maori and European. These ocean-going vessels needed ports near the whaling grounds to service the ships. The ships at first were British, but grew to include American, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, and German."

beautiful Karaka bay (hides the past carnage...)

Karaka bay is on Wellington's east coast

From NZ department of conservation (doc.govt.nz): "The Southern Right Whales are migratory animals and are circumpolar, mainly between 20°S and 55°S. A northern species also exists. Tohora are a native migrant to New Zealand and are the only large baleen whales that can be seen from the beach. During the breeding season in winter and spring, they are mostly found in the waters around the sub-Antarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands but there are occasional sightings around mainland New Zealand. The population of Southern Right Whales in the Southern Ocean has been making a slow recovery..."

And from Stuff.co.nz: (this week!) Kayakers and divers came within metres of a 13-metre whale as it swam around Scorching and Karaka bays.

The increase of the NZ Southern Right Whale population was mentioned by a National Geographic team as they studied their northern cousins: "In July 2007 Rolland, Kraus, and I joined a team bound for the Auckland Islands, 300 miles south of New Zealand through some of the planet's stormiest latitudes, to carry out census and DNA work. As our 82-foot sailboat Evohe slipped into a protected bay amid the isles, there was nothing but sunshine washing the deck. Then, like explorers of a bygone era, we watched natives paddle across the water to surround our vessel. Except these natives paddled with flukes and blew spray from their heads.

Curious right whales investigated Evohe for hours while yellow-eyed penguins leaped along like skipping stones beside them. Great breaths overrode the sounds of waves and seabird cries and the mewling of young New Zealand sea lions from rookeries ashore. More whales milled and breached for as far as we could see. They were bigger than northern rights. More than one in ten were pinto-patterned, flashing yards of smooth white skin. A bygone era? This was beginning to feel more like the dawn of creation. Rolland and Krause, who had never viewed a southern right before, were beside themselves."

So the Southern Right Whales are coming back... and although this past industry helped NZ grow, modern and now keenly (perhaps overly so?) ecologically aware NZ-ers no longer hunt any whales - only with cameras for eco touring.

I've gone on a whale watching tour boat off the coast of San Diego... now whale watching is definitely on my NZ tour 'to do' list... Maybe by helicopter? Perhaps rent a bach on Karaka Bay (nice!)... welcome back Southern Rights