Niue Humpback Whale Research

In September 2018 I travelled to Niue, a small Pacific Island nation, as part of a Conservation International assignment with a group of select Whale Research scientists conducting a study on the endangered Oceania population of Humpback Whales.

Honoring the critical role the ocean plays in the wellbeing and livelihoods of Niuean people, Niue has taken independent steps to conserve and manage their waters. In 2003, they declared their ocean area as a whale sanctuary, which is when our team lead, Olive Andrews, began her work in-country. ​Recently they further committed 40% of their ocean territory as a sanctuary and are in the process of marine spatial planning for their entire marine domain.

Throughout our short time in beautiful Niue I filmed and produced an eight-part video series covering the various aspects of our research, which is now released online and viewable in its entirety below, or visit CI’s Niue Whale Research.

Select an episode from the dropdown top-left menu in the video box.

Additionally, Conservation International’s staff writer Olivia DeSmit wrote a piece about the Whale Song featured in Episode 5. Read it here.