Thomas Kahu of Whale Watch Kaikoura скачать в хорошем качестве

Thomas Kahu of Whale Watch Kaikoura

In the 1980’s the New Zealand coastal town of Kaikoura was suffering from a changing economic base and high unemployment. Then four NgaiTahu Maori families mortgaged their homes to raise the capital to start Whale Watch Kaikoura. Today, Whale Watch is a multiple award-winning New Zealand nature tourism company owned and operated by the indigenous Kati Kuri people of Kaikoura, a Maori sub-tribe of the South Island's larger Ngai Tahu tribe. Whale Watch has a fleet of modern catamarans each specially designed for whale watching and underwater sound mitigation. In May 2023, chairman Thomas Kahu spoke about the journey with a group of students from Penn State. He started as a tour guide for Whale Watch in 1987, becoming skipper, director, head of sales and finally chairman in 2021. He has also been trustee and chairman of Te Tai O Marokura, a Māori Health & Social Service. In his own words ‘Whanau, Whale Watch, Ngati Kuri, and our Environment dominate my thinking and time. I carry the aspirations and dreams of my parents and those that have gone before us on my sleeve, laying a path for my children and moko to follow and carve when their time to pave the way arrives’. CC-BY-NC-ND