A Whale's Tale

Television (Full Length) – 1992

When Ngāti Kuri kaumatua Bill Solomon came up with the idea to launch a whale watching business in Kaikōura in the 1980s, unemployment levels for local Māori were dire. In this documentary, narrator Don Selwyn credits Whale Watch for creating "an industry out of the embers of a dying town". Kaikōura was founded on whaling in the 1800s but now international tourists flock there to witness whales, dolphins and seals in their natural habitat. Whale riding Ngāti Kuri ancestor Paikea was the inspiration for Solomon's idea — to ride on the back of a whale to a new life and prosperity.

Our planet's in real trouble. The only way we are going to save it is by having people be able to come and go out and experience nature, not in a zoo or a concrete pool, but actually get out and experience it...
– Marine educator and author Barbara Todd