29 Aug 2016

Whales in New Zealand waters

From Afternoons, 2:23 pm on 29 August 2016

Thanks to new technology, scientists can now track whales in real time - and discover how deep they dive and how long they can spend underwater before surfacing for a breath.

15.01m long mother and calf right whale photographed from a drone. Photo by S. Dawson, taken under permit from Department of Conservation.

False Killer whale, a new species record for the Kermadec region. Image taken by Bob Atkinson

Tu Hononga (The Connection): The skeleton of this 17.8m long Sperm whale gifted to the nation by Te Kawerau a Maki forms the centre piece of the Whales Tohorä exhibition that has been touring North America since 2008

Cuvier's beaked whale stranded on mud flats near Auckland

Spectacled porpoise

Whale expert Anton van Helden discusses the whales that live in our part of the world and answers listener's questions 36:36

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Anton van Helden spent 20 years working on the Marine Mammal collections at Te Papa and is now Marine Conservation Advocate at Forest and Bird.