Humpback Whales are making a come back, a New Zealand survey shows.
The number of humpback whales in the Cook Strait reached a high in 2015, which the New Zealand Department of Conservation says is an encouraging sign for the local population.
There were 137 humpback whales counted in the annual four-week survey, including the rare white humpback Migaloo, dwarfing the previous high of 106 in 2012.
Survey leader Nadine Bott says the latest survey results are exhilarating, but also provide encouraging signs for the future.
"The higher number of humpback whales being seen indicates the New Zealand population is recovering but we are not yet seeing the extraordinary rates of increase they have in Australia of around 11 per cent a year," she said on Monday.
"Perhaps that is something we will enjoy in our waters in the future."
The survey also broke a second record with 27 humpbacks spotted on June 21 - the highest number of whales spotted on a single day.
The Department of Conservation monitors the whale population to assess its recovery since commercial whaling ended in 1964.
The annual surveys are run in conjunction to the whales' annual migration north from Antarctica to warmer breeding grounds in the South Pacific.
