Southern right whales ( Eubalaena australis ) were widespread in New Zealand waters before commercial whaling in the nineteenth century caused drastic declines in their abundance and distribution. Following the cessation of whaling, the population has been recovering and is now slowly recolonising its former range. Estimates of population demographics, including reproductive output, are essential for predicting the trajectory...

Fishing activities have the potential to alter the behaviour of cetaceans and pose a threat through bycatch. We present observations concerning the influence of inshore trawling on group size and behaviour of Hector's dolphins ( Cephalorhynchus hectori ) at Banks Peninsula, New Zealand, made during photo‐ID surveys from 2003 to 2007. Aggregations of dolphins, typically involved in what we assumed to be foraging behaviour, were...