The South Pacific Humpback Whale Project was organised in 1994 as a consortium of volunteers and experts interested in the current status of humpback whales in New Zealand and other regions of the Southwest Pacific Ocean.
The Project has attempted to document the recovery or absence of recovery in Tonga and New Zealand waters.The Project's long-term study in the island group of Vava'u, northern Tonga, which was one of the most significant known breeding areas for humpback whales earlier this century, is carried out under the authority of the Government of Tonga.
The long term goals of the project are:
1) Estimate the current abundance of humpback whales in Tongan waters and evaluate evidence for population recovery.
2) Describe the genetic relationship of Tongan humpback whales to those from other wintering grounds in the Southern Hemisphere using variation in mitochondrial DNA,
3) Describe the demographic and migratory relationship of Tongan humpback whales to those from other wintering grounds in the Southern Hemisphere by comparison ofindividual identification photographs;
4) Describe seasonal changes in Tongan humpback whale songs, and determine dialectical relationships among songs recorded in Tonga and other area V habitat.
5) Document (as of 1995) the cultural significance of whales to Tongan people and to assist in management of whales and whale watching in the Southwest Pacific.
An important component of the SPHWP and the SPREP support is the training and capacity building of Pacific Island nationals in research, survey and management techniques for whales.
The SPHWP has provided population estimates used in this paper.
Tonga stopped whaling in 1978 and has led the region in the conservation of humpback whales and the development of whale watching. Tongan waters are a critical breeding ground for humpback whales in the South Pacific. Today, humpback whales are increasingly important economic resource for Tonga worth an estimated STI,000,000 each season.
