WELLINGTON, April 5 (Xinhua) -- A breed of whale that was hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century appears to be making a comeback to waters around New Zealand, scientists said Friday.
Sighting collated from the public showed that mainland New Zealand was becoming an increasingly important winter habitat for the southern right whale, according to a study by academics from the universities of Auckland and Otago.
"For the first time we have documented southern right whales returning to the mainland, including females returning with their calves in different years," lead author Dr. Emma Carroll of the University of Auckland said in a statement.
Twenty-eight mother-calf pairs were seen in the area between 2003 and 2010, compared with only 11 sightings from 1991 to 2002 and none between 1976 and 1991, the study found.
New Zealand's coastal waters were once the seasonal home of tens of thousands of southern right whales, but extensive whaling saw them all but disappear from around the mainland, with few sightings for most of the 20th Century.
In recent decades, a remnant population was found around the sub-Antarctic islands and members of this growing population appeared to be recolonizing mainland New Zealand.
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