Marine Connection is pleased to report on a major three-year scientific research project, aiming to find information which could see rare southern right whales flourishing once again in New Zealand coastal waters.

An eleven-person team have left for the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands - 460km South of New Zealand and will be based at Port Ross on the Islands for three weeks, planning to return mid August. The group will also study for the first time the winter diet of the critically endangered New Zealand sea lion on the Islands, which is home to the largest breeding colonies of the mammals. Acoustic recordings will be taken of the sounds made by southern right whales and researchers will also study and photograph the whales' population and habitat as, in recent years, growing numbers of southern right whales have been noticed in and around the pristine waters of the Auckland Islands and it is now vital to ascertain the factors which make the habitat so favourable for the whales and also which environmental factors could potentially hinder their recovery.

Before whaling began in the early nineteenth century, southern right whales were abundant in harbours and coastal New Zealand waters but because they preferred inshore areas and were slow swimming and easy to kill, coastal whaling groups found them profitable to hunt. They were quickly hunted to near extinction and it took until the 1960s for these now fully-protected whales to begin a tentative recovery. However they are still a rare sight off New Zealands'attracting significant public interest whenever they do appear. Part of this new project will involve raising public awareness and promoting the fact that southern right whales in particular are iconic to New Zealand. Two more expeditions to the Auckland Islands are planned for the winters of 2011 and 2012.