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The migration of whales in general has been a subject of interest to whalers for many centuries and it has long been known that different species follow different seasonal routes, but it was not until Wilkes (1845) and the writings and charts of Maury (1851–55) that the subject received much detailed study. Their work was based more particularly on records from the American sperm and right whalers, but the opening up of new areas and the change in species hunted that followed the introduction of the explosive harpoon by the Norwegians permitted many observations on other species. Collett (1912) when discussing North Atlantic whale catches, mentioned the seasons for humpbacks, but Risting (1912) provided considerably more detail on their coastal movements in this area and also in the South Atlantic, together with mention of Australian seas. His general conclusions on the breeding migrations towards tropical waters and feeding migrations towards polar seas have been reaffirmed for African waters by Olsen (1915) and for the Pacific Ocean by Lillie (1915), while Hinton (1925) provided more South Atlantic data. The review of the migrations of whalebone whales by Kellogg (1928) integrated the preceding and many others on more localised movements, such as described by True (1904) and Alen (1916). Harmer (1931) while primarily discussing blue and fin whales, makes a number of pertinent comments on humpbacks and whale migrations in the southern hemisphere. The charts of Townsend (1935) provide invaluable data on the monthly distribution of whales caught from nineteenth century American whaleships and have been discussed by Matthews (1937) in relation to other observations. The whale marking programme described by Rayner (1940) gave the first definite confirmation of the movements of humpbacks from segregated groups in Antarctic waters to the known breeding areas in tropical waters. Whale mark returns, catch statistics and whale sightings are compared by Mackintosh (1942) who shows that there is strong evidence for believing that humpbacks segregate into five more or less separate groups in Antarctic waters. One of these, the Ross Sea group in Area V, almost certainly represents the summer concentration of humpbacks which pass the coasts of New Zealand, East Australia and other parts of the Pacific as summarised by Dawbin and Falla (1949). It seems probable from the distribution of humpbacks in Area V as indicated by Japanese catches (Omura 1953) that the main summer concentration occurs in the vicinity of the Balleny Islands, and it is presumed that this is the starting point for the northward migration of the humpbacks which pass the New Zealand coast.
Along the New Zealand coasts the humpback is the only whale seen regularly in any considerable numbers. The strongly migratory and coast frequenting habits of this species are known from observations in a number of areas, but few of these areas provide as many alternative routes which can be followed or avoided according to local conditions as are available along the New Zealand coastline. New Zealand is one of the few land masses which is of such a shape and size that humpbacks.
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from presumably the same stock can travel along either its eastern or western coasts or even start along one coast and then, because of the position of Cook Strait, can continue along the opposite coast. On their return passage they can follow the same routes in reverse or by slight deviations can follow quite a different coastline in a way which is not possible with a continuous continental shore. As their route is probably not limited so strictly by the position of the coastlines as it is in most areas, the effects of local factors on the whales' migration should be more marked than in other areas. On the other hand the 1,000 mile north-south length of the New Zeaand coastline represents only a small proportion of the total north-south distance traversed by humpbacks each season. However, it is the most southern land mass from which regular observations of Area V whales have been possible, and its present whaling station at Tory Channel (41° S.) is the world's most southerly site for winter whaling.
The history of whale catches and evidence from recent sightings indicate that whales are not as abundant in these waters as in those of the major land masses in the southern hemisphere, but the humpback sightings from parts of the New Zealand coast show that the numbers of this species are by no means insignificant. Whaling in New Zealand waters commenced with the arrival of the “William and Anne” in 1792, but sperm whales were then the main objective and remained so until right whaling commenced in the 1820's. The first two shore stations commenced operations between 1827 and 1829, and were followed by the establishment of many more before 1840, while whaling from overseas vessels in offshore waters increased steadily in the same period, and the numbers of right whales taken reached several hundred per season in the 1830's. It is difficult to fix the date of the first humpback captures in New Zealand waters as some were taken by American whaleships offshore (Townsend 1935) and others by shore parties who rarely kept records, and those who did often listed oil yields only, without specifying the kind of whale caught.
Humpback oil is listed in an account of progress at Cloudy Bay in 1841 (New Zealand Gazette, June 5, 1841), while the letters of John Wade (1842–46) show that humpbacks were being taken in 1843 from at least two of the four stations controlled by him. One of these, “Wydrop”, was in Palliser Bay and the other was at Kaikoura, where 10 humpbacks and two right whales are mentioned as the catch at June 15, 1843. Humpbacks have probably been taken in small numbers from one or other part of the New Zealand coast more or less continuously from at least 1841 until the present day.
By 1900 shore whalers depended primarily on humpbacks, which were taken in five main areas. These were Whangamumu, near the Bay of Islands, Bay of Plenty, Mahia Peninsula, Tory Channel and Kaikoura, and all at that time were operated by the old time methods of open boats and hand harpoons. The explosive harpoon and a steam driven chaser were first used in New Zealand waters by the Whangamumu party in 1910. Launch chasers, as described by Ommaney (1933) were first used with non-explosive harpoons and hand bombs in Cook Strait during 1911, and a light explosive harpoon as well as the hand bombs was first used in 1924. The Kaikoura station operated with launches from 1917 to 1922, but the Mahia stations, which finished operations in 1922, and those in Bay of Plenty operating until 1933, continued with open boats and hand harpoons. The Whangamumu station ceased effective whaling in 1931, so the Tory Channel station is the only one operating at the present time.
Data from various sources listed below provide information on approximately 9000 humpbacks and have been used to deduce the northwards and southwards migration routes of humpbacks in New Zealand waters. The only data suitable for comparing different seasons are those from Tory Channel and Whangamumu whaling stations, and Centre Island lighthouse, which provide some basis for noting
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seasonal differences at three points on the New Zealand coast. Data on the sex and age group composition of the humpback stocks passing New Zealand and the results of biological examination of humpbacks caught in Cook Strait during recent seasons will be discussed in succeeding papers.