Cook Strait Whale Survey

A photo of a humpback whale tail taken during an annual survey in the Cook Strait.

A newborn humpback whale spotted in Cook Strait - and is only the second seen in New Zealand's waters.

The calf - pictured here with its mother - was estimated by DOC to be less than a week old

Joe Heberley, pictured here with a hand harpoon, was a commercial whaler until the industry shut down in 1964. He now helps the Department of Conservation to count whales in Cook Strait.

Former whalers, Joe Heberley, Tommy Norton and Johnny Norton scanning Cook Strait for whales during the annual whale survey

The whale surveyors scan Cook Strait from a Hutt above Okukari Bay on Arapawa Island in Tory Channel