Southern right whales find Akaroa Harbour to their liking

Several large Southern right whales have found Akaroa Harbour to their liking this week, sticking around rather than heading back south as part of their annual migration back to Antarctica.

The whales have provided some spectacular sights as they have been leaping out of the water, which Black Cat Cruises Managing Director Paul Bingham said “was an amazing sight and bonus for those lucky enough to be out on the harbour.”

“The whales seem too really like it here, and have been very playful, breaching (leaping out of the water), and it’s rare to see them at this time of the year and to have them inside Akaroa Harbour.”

Bingham said the whales have been sighted over each of the past three days “well inside Akaroa Heads,” but just how long they would stay in the area was difficult to say.

Southern right whales are well known for their spectacular breaching and beautiful, complex songs, and migrate north during the summer months when supplies of krill are more prolific, and south during winter and spring to mate, calve and rear their young.