For the next few days, I am going to be based at the Oiled Wildlife Response Unit identifying the feathered victims of the oil spill that occurred over a week ago.
Forest & Bird's Seabird Advocate examines a dead bird at the Oiled Wildlife Response Unit in Tauranga. Photo Kim Westerskov
This grim cargo is being carried ashore at an alarming rate and already we have identified over a thousand birds – some of which are rare and threatened birds, such as the wandering albatross.
After receiving a safety briefing, a high vis vest and an induction from my colleague Al Fleming, I was set to working through the bags and bags of birds that were awaiting identification.
It was devastating to see so many little bodies completely covered in sticky black tar-oil.
Blogger: Central North Island Field Officer, Alan Fleming
We are now into our seventh day of cleaning up the mess that has resulted after the large oil spill off the coast of Tauranga.
The accident – which happened early Wednesday morning - has released a large amount of oil (estimated to be 300 tonnes) which has spread throughout the sea and now fist-sized globules are appearing on Mount Maunganui beach.
So far there are about 200 volunteers at the ready to clean up any birds that are washed ashore.
To date nine oiled birds have been rehabilitated (7 little blue penquins and 2 pied shags), however these are just the birds that have washed ashore.
It is estimated there are 10,000 grey faced petrels, thousands of diving petrels, white-faced storm-petrels and fluttering shearwaters are breeding on nearby islands including off Coromandel Peninsula and feeding in the Bay of Plenty.
Our ocean currents ferry all manner of organisms into our seas and onto our shores, and one such animal that occasionally appears in NZ waters is turtles. Marine turtles have been reported from our waters for more than 100 years, yet, there has been little written about them.
Dan Godoy with a green turtle
Marine turtles have been my interest of study for 6 years now, and with the data I have managed to collect I am slowly beginning to build a picture of their distribution, age-range, and threats in NZ waters. Over the past few years, I’ve collected first and second-hand information about turtle sightings and strandings, so that we can develop some science-based management around these endangered creatures. A portion of my data has come from live rescues of near-dead creatures that are found stranded or floating at sea. Once found the animal is transported immediately to Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium. Of these individuals a large proportion of them are rehabilitated back to health. Of the ones that don’t survive or are found dead, necropsies are undertaken to gather more data.
One of the hurdles to studying these species in NZ is that they’re largely seen as occasional visitors or wayward stragglers, and do not live in our waters permanently. So, for the most part they remain largely unstudied. What I have discovered is that although green turtles don’t breed here, some may spend a part of their life cycle inhabiting our waters in the Upper North Island.
There are 5 species of marine turtle that have been found in NZ: the green, hawksbill, leatherback, olive ridley, and loggerhead. All of them are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/.
Generally speaking, it is the first part of a turtle’s life cycle that is the most trying – it is estimated less than 1% make it to adult hood. Once (green) turtles reach maturity at an age of 25-35 years old, it is really only humans that are their biggest threat. Human activities such as pollution and fishing are contributing to the overall decline of turtles in the Pacific. Turtles are unfortunately prone to entanglement by fishing nets and they are especially susceptible to ingesting plastic and other marine debris. For example, leatherback turtles are known to ingest plastic bags because they look very much like jelly-fish - one of their prey items. The more we learn about marine turtles in NZ the better we can understand their life cycle which will contribute to their conservation. As a result of this study and increased awareness of marine turtles in New Zealand, we will be better informed to make appropriate decisions for the management of these endangered species
We have all heard of the Biodiversity Crisis, but one of the things that particularly concerns me is the Amphibian Extinction Crisis. Yes, I know, just another picture of doom and gloom, but this one is particularly bad and can be fixed relatively easily.
Our critically endangered Archey's frog.
According to the recent book by the Zoological Society of London, Evolution Lost 25% of all mammal species are threatened, 13% of bird species, 15% of fish species and 41% of amphibians.
So we really are looking at an extinction crisis – and one that is caused by a series of well known causes ……… habitat loss, pollution, pesticides, disease and climate change.
As we pored over the depressing findings of the State of Environment Report on the Hauraki Gulf, quips and wise-cracks were off the cards until someone yelled over the crowd.
The Hauraki Gulf's resident whale; the Bryde's whale. It is thought there are 46 of these whales living in the gulf.
“I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to become a vegetarian.”
Six hours into discussion over this official unveiling and the tension was palpable. A group hug was unlikely. Jokes were fair game.
The remark quickly moved the mood from despair into the realms of the absurd amongst the scientists, boaties, recreational fishers, conservationists, scientists, iwi and sea-food industry representatives.
Who’s given access to this blue pantry was a key topic of discussion. Trouble is, it’s only talk.
Despite ambitions to give Auckland & Coromandel residents a marine park (see map) of ‘national park status’, each three-yearly State of Environment report has been met with embarrassment, head-shaking and a round of shoulder-shrugging.
It’s been a 13 year talk-fest – albeit a well-meaning, feel-good & consultative one. But it makes you wonder - when is the Hauraki Gulf Forum going to grow some teeth? Just how bad does it have to get?
I love bizarre creatures, and so I count myself pretty lucky to study one of New Zealand’s most fascinating invertebrates, the giraffe weevil or tuwhaipapa (Lasiorhynchus barbicornis).
About two years ago I met with my supervisor-to-be Dr. Greg Holwell at the University of Auckland to chat about potential PhD projects.
He asked me whether I would be interested in studying giraffe weevils as he was intrigued by a combination of two things: their amazing size variation and the incredible elongation of the male’s head which gives them their giraffe-like appearance.
I too was intrigued about this and was surprised to find out that very little is known about New Zealand’s longest beetle. Both males and female giraffe weevils have an elongation of the head which is called a rostrum, although in males this is far more dramatic so that the head makes up around 50% of its total body length.
Coupled with a six fold difference in body length between the smallest and largest adult males this led us to ask questions about the mating and fighting behaviour in this species. Most importantly, how are small males (see picture of the size comparison) able to compete for females when it seems obvious that they wouldn’t stand a chance against much larger counterparts?
Blogger: Ethno-botanist at Landcare Research, Sue Scheele
As rugby fans pray for a fully-fit, injury-free AB team to take on the world, I’m thinking about one of our legendary players, the full-back George Nepia.
In his biography, written with Terry McLean, George tells of an injury that threatened to end his career. In 1925, the North Island were playing the South, and during a tackle, a player struck George’s thigh and burst a blood vessel. Over the next couple of weeks, George had physio to relieve the haematoma but it didn’t work. He couldn’t play. A doctor wanted to operate, but George refused.
Kowhai - wonder poultice.
Instead, George and his team-mate Lui Paewai, went to see Lui’s mother, near Dannevirke. She sent them into the bush to collect two big sacks of kowhai bark, from trees facing the sun’s rays. The bark was cut into strips, hammered, then boiled in a copper for three hours or so until the water had turned dark tan. This was ladled into a bath and once the temperature was right, George lay in it for a good hour. Then Mrs Paewai inspected his discoloured leg and nicked all around the thigh with a shard of broken bottle. More hot kowhai water was added and George stayed in the bath another hour. The water darkened, and dark blood oozed from the cuts. Mrs Paewai was thrilled “ Kua pai tou waewae” (Your leg is better).
The physiotherapist was ecstatic – he had thought George’s leg was in such a bad way that his career was finished. “Not with Maori methods”, records George. Just a week or so later, George played for his Hawkes Bay team against Taranaki, winning 28-3.
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s South Island Field Officer, Debs Martin
My first visit to the Stockton and Denniston Plateaux was in January 2006 when I went with a crew of Forest & Birders to support the commencement of the 3 year long occupation of Happy Valley to stop a planned extension of Solid Energy’s opencast coal mine.
Denniston plateau. Craig Potton
I’ve been back many times since then … initially I was filled with hope as we shouldered in a yurt for the winter, and eventually with sadness, as Forest & Bird’s excellent case to the Environment Court wasn’t upheld, and our last ditch efforts to save the valley vanished.
Five years on and I’m back again. This time I’m not leaving until we’ve saved the nationally important landscapes and habitats of the Denniston and remainder of Stockton Plateau. Well, I’m actually not there literally – but my heart is.
At the start of June, Buller Coal Ltd – aka Bathurst Resources Ltd – a large Australian mining company, opened its resource consent case in Westport – to opencast mine 6.1 million tonnes of coal off the Denniston Plateau.
Blogger: Serial Bird of the Year campaigner and ex-Wellington zoo staffer, Stephanie Gray
—– Part I of a two-part blog about native species in New Zealand zoos —-
The hugely publicised arrival of an Emperor penguin to the Kapiti coast coupled with the rare opportunity to see this Antarctic native explains the throngs of people paying to see Happy Feet at Wellington Zoo.
Can I have your signature? A chance meeting between Sirocco and the author on Codfish Island
Not long before this, besotted visitors queued at Auckland Zoo to see Sirocco, the kakapo made infamous with his televised seduction of Stephen Fry.
But how will little blue penguins, tui and (even further down the glamour charts), the banded kokupu compare with the kakapo and penguin’s rarity and celebrity when it comes to selling zoo tickets?
It’s a question that springs to mind as Auckland Zoo prepares to open its $16 million native flora and fauna exhibition at the end of the year.
Te Wao Nui is the largest project in the zoo’s 88-year history and involves the Department of Conservation and Ngati Whatua o Orakei as conservation partners.
Species will include the aforementioned penguins, tui and kokupu, as well as bellbirds, long-fin eels, short-tailed bats, morepork, cave weta and land snails.
“Do you feel comfortable here?” Graeme asked, as we began scaling the hillside with a rope—a frothy sea churning below us.
Fairy prions spend most of their time at sea feeding on zooplankton.
Despite secretly answering “no” to this question, I spent four days volunteering with Forest & Bird member Graeme Loh and others along the 70-meter sea cliffs at St. Clair, Otago.
The mission: to enable Fairy Prions to recolonize the cliff top by erecting a predator-proof fence.
New Zealand is Fairy Prion capital of the world with around 50% of the world’s population residing here.
Their stronghold is the Marlborough sounds, however colonies can be found dotted around the country including Poor Knights, Banks Peninsula, the Chathams, Snares and the Antipodes islands.
Their high rise home on the Otago peninsula is the only known breeding colony on the mainland and looking at the spot you can see why - it’s completely inacessible to predators.
