The South Pacific territory of Tokelau has declared a whale sanctuary in its waters, bringing to 11 the number of national and territorial sanctuaries in the region. The sanctuary will cover 112,000 square miles of ocean around the three atolls of Tokelau, which lie roughly midway between New Zealand and Hawaii.

The establishment of the sanctuary will strengthen the anti-whaling movement and send a very strong message to the whaling nations that they are in a minority. The isolated group of coral atolls with a land area of just 5 square miles has outlawed whaling in its exclusive economic ocean zone and although sanctuaries have only moral force, help support the recovery of decimated whale populations like the humpback and southern right whale. Tokelau, a U.N. protectorate that remains a colony of New Zealand lies about 300 miles north of Samoa.

The 11 Pacific nations and territories that have established whale sanctuaries within their ocean economic zones are: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Niue, Papa New Guinea, Samoa, Tokelau, American Samoa and Vanuatu. Two nations, New Zealand and Tonga, and two territories, Guam and the Northern Marianas, have passed laws banning the taking of whales from their economic zones but have not declared sanctuary areas.