This map shows the distribution of the Bryde’s whale, the sperm whale and the southern right whale. The right whale was once very common around New Zealand but is now largely confined to the Auckland and Campbell islands. Also shown are the migration routes of the humpback whale. It moves from the Antarctic up the coasts of New Zealand to tropical waters around Tonga, and then back down again. The route through Cook Strait is now only rarely used.
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Source: Geoffrey J. Cox, Whale watch: a guide to New Zealand’s whales and dolphins. Auckland: William Collins, 1990; and Rob Svisted and Nadine Gibbs, Areas of special significance for marine mammals in New Zealand. Poster. Wellington: Department of Conservation, 1999.
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