Photograph: Eleanor Ainge Roy This trip marks 25 years of DNA testing for this population of tohorā, and evidence from previous studies shows that New Zealand population of southern right whales was devastated by whaling, from an estimated population of 30,000 down to as few as 40 individual whales. They compete for food with native birds and pose a risk of future attacks on seabird chicks. One of the world’s rarest penguins, this small sea bird nests on the Auckland Island group, Campbell Island and a few places on New Zealand’s South Island. Shag rookery, Enderby Island, Auckland Islands. There are over 280 insects, 95 of which are endemic (found nowhere else on Earth).

Gibson’s Albatross nests almost exclusively in the high tussocks of Adam’s Island in the Auckland Island group, where the island’s pest-free state protects their eggs form predation by pigs and mice. The can be seen on the rocks in large groups, emerging from the vegetation and porpoising through the water.

People interested in tracking tohorā movements can follow their journey at www.tohoravoyages.ac.nz, where each whale has its own profile. Males fight throughout the summer for supremacy on the beach, claiming their harems of females and young.

The big males dwarf them, weighing in at up to 400 kg and sporting thick dark brown or black fur that grows in luxurious manes down their powerful neck and shoulders.

“We had expected they would travel north to the warmer waters nearer New Zealand and Australia, where we assume their traditional feeding grounds are,” she said.

In 1876 the GSS Stella began maritime safety duties, and the first depots, such as Stella Hut, were built. This is followed by 700 ha Enderby Island, 1km north of the main island, and Disappointment Island, 8 km west of the main island. Compared with other penguins, the Yellow Eyed penguin has one of the longest chick-rearing stages with chicks taking up to 120 days to fledge. However, he said the effects of climate change were likely to have a significant effect on the New Zealand population of tohorā, as other populations of the same type of whale had shown “strong links” between climate effects and population. READ MORE: * Endangered blue whale population making a comeback * Migrating humpbacks 'cover' whale songs, scientists learn * Footage captures rare images of 'luminous' white southern right whales. The Auckland Island’s distinct environments support a range of significant fauna, with rare and threatened animals nesting, breeding and taking refuge in the island group. “So far they have swum even further south towards Antarctica, so whether they will turn back to the north at some point we don’t yet know. Government responses gradually improved. When going out to sea to forage they may move in small groups, but disperse once they’re in the water. Separated by a 500-square-mile lagoon known as the Bight of Acklins, both islands are a haven for boating, bonefishing, snorkeling and diving. * Full funding for a research trip next year has not yet been secured, and anyone wishing to make a donation can find out more at www.liveocean.com.

Juvenile and sub-adult males hang around the edges of the colony, looking for an opportunity to start their own harem and begin breeding. This tohorā was photographed by researchers at the sub-Antarctic Islands in 2009. In the salt spray zone there is often a herb turf. Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Project. It is approx 40 km long and 12 km wide at its widest point and has an approximate land area of 46,000 ha.

They are the largest of New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, with a combined area of 57,000 ha.

The twisted, dense and complex understorey of the rata forest gives a safe and sheltered place for rearing chicks. Carroll said the early stages of the whales’ journeys was surprising, as data from the whaling days and earlier studies showed that tohorā around New Zealand tended to swim north for the summer months, as far as the Kermadec Islands. Carroll uses DNA testing to help estimate the whale population and measure its recovery since the whaling days in the 1800s. Most have been given fairly utilitarian names (numbers Tahi through to Rima), but the name of the sixth tracked tohorā, Bill/Wiremu, reflects the personality of the whale who was friendly with the research crew during their stay. Both members of the Wandering tribe of Albatross in the genus Diomedea, the Southern Royal and Gibson’s Albatross have wingspans of up to 3 meters and spend most of the year gliding over the Southern Ocean in search of food. The research trip was made possible with donations from US billionaire Brian Sheth; the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi; the University of Auckland; Live Ocean and the Lou & Iris Fisher Charitable Trust.

Females are a pale creamy grey or brown, and can weigh up to 160 kg.

Without fuel to reach safe port they sheltered in Carnley Harbour. The vegetation of the Auckland Islands subdivides by distinct altitudinal zones with the width of each changing as you get further south.

Photos: Fredrik Christiansen, left and centre-left, Steve Dawson, centre-right, John Durban and Holly Fearnbach, right. The eight researchers from the University of Auckland and Nelson’s Cawthron​ Institute took the trip to the tohorā nursery to measure the size of the whales, take skin samples (about the size of a pinky-finger nail) for DNA testing, and tag six of the whales with trackers which will stay attached for between three months to a year. The islands have the largest invertebrate population of any of the New Zealand Subantarctic islands; 200 species have been identified including and endemic genus and species of Weta. The islands have the largest invertebrate population of any of the New Zealand Subantarctic islands; 200 species have been identified including and endemic genus and species of Weta. Smaller terrestrial birds like the tomtit and parakeet feed on the extensive invertebrate communities of the Auckland Islands. There are distinct populations of southern right whales.

Help us protect the subantarctic islands. Stewart Island or Rakiura, in the south, is the largest of the smaller islands, although Waiheke Island in the urban Auckland Region has the largest population of the smaller islands. Captain Abraham Bristow was the first European visitor in 1806, leaving sealers and liberating pigs in 1807.

Also most of the world's population of white capped mollymawk breed here (some 90–100,000 on Disappointment Island) along with Gibson's wandering albatross on Adams Island, the sooty shearwater and the endemic Auckland shag. While you might usually spot a tohorā fluke on a whale-watching boat-ride, enthusiasts can now do their whale-spotting online as they follow the travels of six tagged tohorā via satellite. Department of Conservation | Te Papa Atawhai, https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/southland/places/subantarctic-islands/auckland-islands/. During summer the colony at Sandy Bay is filled with breeding and suckling females and their young pups, corralled by enormous beachmaster bulls.

The Auckland Island snipe, Auckland Island teal, Auckland rail and the tomtit are all endemic to the Auckland Islands. In 1941 lookout stations were erected at Ranui Cove and at Tagua (Carnley Harbour) to keep watch.

Wiremu would hang about the researchers’ yacht and rest his head against the bottom of the boat. The only sizable dune area is Sandy Bay on Enderby Island. The group includes many other smaller islands.

More sealers followed in the 1820s, 1870s and 1880s before the species was protected in 1894. Animal pests introduced by humans over the last 200 years have inflicted severe ecological damage to the Auckland Islands. Next the cattle and rabbits were successfully eradicated from Enderby Island during 1991–93.

The whales use the sheltered Ross Port, a naturally occurring harbour on Auckland Island, as a nursery and socialising area during the winter months.

A network of castaway finger posts directed castaways towards these.

The Canterbury Philosophical Institute undertook the next significant scientific expedition in 1907. The North Island has a larger population than the South Island, with the country's largest city, Auckland, and the capital, Wellington, accounting for nearly half of it. Whale enthusiasts can get their whale-watching fix from space thanks to researchers tagging six tohorā (Southern right whales) in their latest trip to the Auckland Islands. This means fighting the dominant bulls, and many younger males move off like the females into the forest and heathlands to lick their wounds and avoid the fierce competition on the beach.