There have been no reports of south-bound humpbacks sighted from the only two lighthouses (Farewell Spit and Kahurangi Point) between Cape Egmont and Puysegur Point and the scarcity of sightings from the coastal vessels along the northern part of the west coast of the South Island indicates that very few humpbacks travel near the coast in this area. There have been two reports for October from near West Haven Inlet (crew of the Karamu) and two from about five miles west of Westport (crew of Kokiri), but all the sailors and fishermen whom I have interviewed from this coast have agreed in their comments on the rarity of whale sightings in these waters as compared with most other New Zealand coastal waters. However, as the majority of the humpbacks certainly avoid Cook Strait it appeared evident that those seen earlier north of Cape Egmont must travel off the west coast of the South Island but apparently too far offshore to be regularly encountered in the lane of coastal shipping. This has been confirmed recently by Captains Hill and Skinner and the crews of vessels which travel between Auckland and Westport on a route which is further offshore than that followed by the Wellington to West Coast vessels. At distances of 20 to 50 miles from shore the former vessels frequently encounter south-bound humpbacks which do not appear to approach the coast closely until the Jacksons Bay area is reached. From Jacksons Bay southwards humpback sightings have been reported regularly, as lone whales, pairs, or schools of 20 or more during the October to January period.

Crews on all vessels working from Dunedin round to Milford Sound between October and January have remarked on the large numbers of humpbacks seen between Milford Sound and Centre Island. Captain L. D. Williams, master-manager of the Foveaux Strait ferry vessel “Wairua”, has summarised as follows: “From observations during the past six years during the period mid-October to the end of November, large numbers have been seen during the ‘Wairua's’ voyages between Bluff and Milford Sound. Their movement is south along the west coast of the South Island, then travelling east to as far as Centre Island, thence south again along the west coast of Stewart Island. Very seldom is a whale seen on trips between Bluff and Half Moon Bay.” He has informed me that the majority are seen between three and five miles and greater distances off the coast, and other fishermen have stated that south-bound humpbacks are usually several miles out from Puysegur Point, which probably explains the fact that returns from the lighthouse there record only two humpbacks in this season, in contrast to their frequent sightings between May and August. A servicing party visiting the lighthouse in late October stated that large numbers of humpbacks were spouting around the vessel for as far as the eye could see on the day the vessel approached Puysegur Point. Mr. A. J. Black encountered similar concentrations offshore from Dusky Sound during a visit in November.

Instead of continuing due south past Puysegur Point, very large numbers of humpbacks turn due east towards Centre Island, and the numbers reported in this area are so great that it is evident that they are more than the continuation of the same group noted off the west coast north of Cape Egmont. Although they presumably incude most of this group, the majority of the south-bound humpbacks in this area apparently approach the New Zealand coast for the first time at points along the southern portion of the South Island west coast.

During four consecutive seasons, south-bound humpbacks have been seen from Centre Island lighthouse and described in similar terms by at least three different groups of keepers. In each case the whales were first seen in early October, and in two seasons small groups of from four or five up to 20 were seen per day with no sightings at all on a few days, while in the other two seasons this was interspersed with days during which humpbacks were noted in schools of 100 or more. In 1948 a school extending approximately seven miles by 25 miles with spouts too frequent to count was described. The principal keeper made an estimate of 200 to 500 whales,

and described his estimate as conservative. On three succeeding days the estimates were 40–50, 20–30, 20–30, and in each group many of the whales appeared to be feeding. In 1949 a concentration which was travelling past the island all day occurred on October 25, and it was claimed that the numbers were too great to estimate, while on October 22, 1953, Captain L. D. Williams noted 30 whales at one time in the immediate vicinity of his vessel.

During November, schools which were too large to be counted occurred on some days in all four seasons, and the data for one such month (in 1949) are listed below as an indication of the humpback groupings at this time:

1st, 31 sighted in schools of 3 to 10.

7th, 8 sighted.

9th, 40–50 sighted in schools of 8–12.

10th, 25 or more in one large school.

11th, 2 sighted.

14th, large herd sighted, 31 spouts counted in 15 minutes.

17th, 5 sighted.

18th, 4 or more sighted.

21st, 20 or more sighted in small schools.

22nd, whales sighted throughout the day. No count possible.

23rd, whales sighted throughout the day. No count possible.

24th, 50 sighted.

26th, one school of 5 and one of 3.

The principal keeper commented, “No regular watch was kept, and the number of whales reported are conservative”. Many of the above whales were noted as feeding, and large numbers of muttonbirds (Puffinus griseus) were often associated with the whales and feed.

In 1955 the support of the New Zealand Marine Department made it possible for the writer to spend a period in November making some observations in western Foveaux Strait during whale marking. Messrs. Perano Bros. co-operated fully by using one of their 35ft chasers for this work. Although periods of wind and high seas often made it impossible to operate in Foveaux Strait during the three weeks that the vessel was present, on the two full days plus four incomplete days spent on the western approaches to Foveaux Strait, approximately 300 humpbacks were counted from the chaser, and of these 106 were marked. All counting was done from the deck of the chaser, so that eye level was not more than about 8ft above water level, and it seems probable that many more humpbacks were in the general area on each of these days than we recorded. The humpbacks were mainly in groups of six to 12 or more and were often separated from the neighbouring groups by several miles. Some pairs and a few lone whales were sighted at the beginning of November, but in mid-November the schools appeared to have broken up and most of the humpbacks seen were in pairs or alone. However, this apparent breaking up of schools may have been brought about by the repeated movements of the chaser and the marking activity. Many of the whales were observed circling about slowly and feeding in patches of plankton, since identified by Dr. B. M. Bary as Nyctiphanes australis. In most of the small whale groups one or more calves of approximately 22 to 25 feet in length were present.

The observations during this period of whale marking are in close agreement with those which had been provided by many sources in other seasons, and confirm the presence of much larger daily totals of humpbacks in this area, than has been recorded near any other portion of the New Zealand coast. It is, however, possible that a proportion of the humpbacks remain for several days or perhaps longer in this locality as one humpback with a protruding marker and another with an unusual and distinctive colour pattern were sighted again in the same general area two and four days respectively after they were first seen. If a considerable proportion of the hump-