sprep-pa
“My people are called the whale riders,” says Māori conservationist Mere Takoko.
Whales not only hold cultural and spiritual significance for the Māori, the Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, but they are also often seen as ancestors. “Whales symbolize strength, wisdom and resilience, and they are deeply respected as guardians of the ocean,” says Takoko.
Each year in June and July, humpback whales will pass New Zealand as they migrate north from Antarctica to the warmer waters of Tonga to mate, give birth and nurse their calves. They will stay there until October before they return south.
