Besides dolphins and killer whales, what other animals can be seen in Hauraki Gulf Marine Park?
Whale watching in New Zealand Whale watching in New Zealand is predominantly centered around the areas of Kaikoura and the Hauraki Gulf. Known as the 'whale capital', Kaikoura is a world-famous whale watching site, in particular for sperm whales which is currently the most abundant of large whales in New Zealand waters. The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park (just outside Auckland city) is also a significant whale watching area with a resident population of Bryde's Whales commonly viewed alongside other cetaceans Common Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins and Orca. Whale watching is also offered in other locations, often as eco-tours and in conjunction with dolphin watching. Land-based whale watching from New Zealand's last whaling station, which closed in 1964, is undertaken for scientific purposes, mostly by ex-whalers. Some compilations of sighting footages are available on YouTube.
Right whale Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus Eubalaena: the North Atlantic right whale ("E. glacialis"), the North Pacific right whale ("E. japonica") and the Southern right whale ("E. australis"). They are classified in the family Balaenidae with the bowhead whale. Right whales have rotund bodies with arching rostrums, V-shaped blowholes and dark gray or black skin. The most distinguishing feature of a right whale is the rough patches of skin on its head which appear white due to parasitism by whale lice. Right whales can grow up to more than 18 m long with the maximum record of 19.8 m and weigh up to 100 ST or more; 20.7 m with 135000 kg or 21.3 m with uncertainty, being significantly larger than other coastal species such as humpbacks, grays, or eden's and omura's, but smaller than blues. One (apocryphal) explanation for their name is that right whales were named by whalers who identified them as the "right" whale to kill on a hunt due to the plentiful oil and baleen they could provide.