Whale enthusiasts are celebrating a record breaking whale season in Niue with more humpback whales continuing to arrive in the waters around the island nation.
Whale watching operator Magical Niue Sea Adventures has been working with local and international researchers to try and understand where the whales came from and where they are going.
This is done by photo identification and DNA analysis which is compared with other countries the whales visit in the region throughout the season.
The fluke of a humpback whale. Photo: Paul Sagar / NIWA
The owner of Magical Sea Adventures, Rami Oved says research aside this year has been really good for business.
"I think they had 19 different individuals and there were whales everywhere for about, still going for so far its eight weeks non stop then few days ago we thought that was it you know no more whales and then suddenly we saw a group four and another two coming in like one group. So yeah they are coming back again so it has been a really good year."
Rami Oved says Niue is one of only a handful of places in the world where visitors can get in the water with the whales.
