Whales
Gentle Giants by Buddika Aluwihare
The gentle giants were photographed by Buddika Aluwihare off the shores of Australia and New Zealand.
Kaikoura, New Zealand
The small seaside town of Kaikoura nesteled in the east coast of New Zealand's South Island is world renowned for Whale Watching. Just out to sea from Kaikoura is the Indo-Australian continental shelf. The nutrient rich waters around Kaikoura attract a veriety of marine animals, amongst them the giant Sperm Whales. The Sperm Whales can be found off the coast of Kaikoura through out the year.
Hervey Bay, Australia
Humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to the sub-tropical coastal waters of western and eastern Australia and Fiji to give birth and mate during winter and spring.
Each year at least 1200 humpbacks migrate 5000km to the eastern coast of Australia. Groups of whales or 'pods' start to arrive at the southern Great Barrier Reef in mid-June and in the following weeks they move further along the Great Barrier Reef concentrating in the southern Whitsundays area. On the southern migration back to Antarctic waters, a large proportion of the whales stop over for a few days in Hervey Bay. Most humpbacks will have left the Queensland coast by the beginning of November.
"The Humpback whale is the most gamesome and light-hearted of all the whales, making more gay foam and white water than any of them"
- Herman Melville: Moby Dick
Links to other sites
Links to other sites
Whales in Māori tradition
Tribal knowledge of whales
Māori have a long association with whales. While whales provided food and utensils, they also feature in tribal traditions and were sometimes guardians on the ancestors’ canoe journeys to Aotearoa. Oral histories recall interactions between people and whales in tribal stories, carvings, specialised language and place names. There is also a wealth of tribal knowledge about whales.
Whales and Māori voyaging
Whales as kaitiaki (guides)
Many traditions mention that whales accompanied or guided the canoes on their journeys to Aotearoa (New Zealand). Waitaha followed his sister Hāhuru to New Zealand from Hawaiki, guided by the whale Tūtarakauika. They eventually landed at O-tara-muturangi, near Matatā.