Southern Right Whales

Winter is the time of the year when the Southern Right Whale or Tohora are most likely to be seen in our waters. At times they come into very shallow water, and a few years ago one spent time inside Port Taranaki.

Southern Right Whales are beginning to rebuild their numbers since whaling ended, but the population is still small.

One way of finding out about the population of whales is to identify them. In New Zealand there are two main ways to identify them. The first way is by photograph. If you can take a photo of a whale's head, the chances are it can be identified. On a right whale's head are pale lumps, called callosities. Each whale is unique in the shape and position of these, and so can be identified.

The other way to identify them is by taking a small sample of flesh. This is done by firing a special dart from a gun. The dart has a hollow point which takes a very small amount of flesh. You van see the dart if you look carefully at the circle on one of the photos below. The more we can find out about these whales, the more we can do to protect them. If you are out in a boat over winter, make sure you have a camera at the ready! If you have sighted or photographed a whale, send the sighting info, or photo, to Callum Lilley at DOC - clilley@doc.govt.nz


Photos supplied by Callum Lilley and Bryan Williams (DOC)