This piece goes out to all the Tongans that have just felt the destructive power of the recent underwater volcanic eruption and pursuant Tsunami. The Kingdom of Tonga is a Polynesian archipelago consists of 176 islands of which only 36 are inhabited. The islands, that are divided into 4 clusters, covering a land mass of 748.5 km² that is spread over 659,558 km². With a population of approximately 105,000, two thirds of the population lives on the biggest island of Tongatapu, they are also the first people to celebrate the coming of the New Year!
As the cooler winter months come to the South Pacific, the beautiful islands of Tonga play host to hundreds of Humpback Whales, this pod is known as the “Tonga Tribe” and they are one of six main humpback populations of the South Pacific. The Tonga Tribe leave the rich Antarctic waters and migrate a staggering 6000 km north to the Tongan Archipelago to breed and calf before making the journey back home. An important journey for their survival, since they were almost decimated by the whaling stations but luckily their numbers have quadrupled in the last 44 years, and now approximately 1000 make this journey offering phenomenal whale sightings in Tonga!
