Ranger Nina Mercer takes her eight year old son, Fenn, on a tramp to the Rangiwahia Hut in the Ruahine Forest Park.
Continue Reading...Today’s photo of the week is of two humpback whales and a pod of dusky dolphins travelling near the Kaikoura Coast.
The Department of Conservation is currently conducting a research project that monitors the northern migration of humpback whales through the Cook Strait. This will be the eleventh annual Cook Strait Whale Survey.
The survey aims to determine how humpback whales are recovering since whaling ended. The survey has already recorded 33 humpback whales and 1 blue whale.
This photo was taken by Rob Pine.
Titi, or sooty shearwaters, have one of the longest migrations of any bird on the planet.
Department of Conservation sea bird scientist, Graeme Taylor, is on Rangatira Island, in the Chatham Islands, to find out where they go.
His team employ a novel approach to try to retrieve 16 geolocators in 10 days.
Have a watch…
Rangatira Island, is one of New Zealand’s premier sea bird islands. It is free of all introduced pests and it is riddled with sea bird burrows.
By Denice Gillespie, Partnerships Ranger, Kaitaia
This year during Seaweek (1-9 March) a crew from Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium in Auckland released two green turtles back to the sea in the Far North with the support of Te Rarawa Iwi.
These two turtles, named ‘Luke’ and ‘Isla’, were found washed up near Ahipara last year, and were nursed back to health by the Kelly Tarlton’s team.
A crowd gathered at Ahipara for the release of Luke and Isla
A large crowd gathered on the beach at Ahipara to witness the returning of the turtles back to their natural environment.
Not long after the release Cyclone Lusi hit and we were all hoping that the turtles hadn’t been affected by it. I was getting a little worried.
Green turtle
Dan Godoy also known as the ‘Turtle Man’ from Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium recently gave me an update on the two turtles. It is good news!
Dan reports that one turtle has just left Parengarenga and is now exploring the waters around Houhora. The other turtle was recorded around Manukau Harbour but has since left and was heading a little further south.
One turtle tracked in the waters around Houhora
So it’s good to see our turtle friends are still cruising the big blue, sharing the turtle love! It’ll be interesting to see what they get up to over winter.
Meet Teviot flathead galaxias, one of the five species of New Zealand native freshwater fish, whose threat of extinction has recently been listed as nationally critical—the highest threat category…
Gulp, gulp… I’m Teviot flathead galaxias, but you can call me Tev.
I live, with every other Teviot on the planet, in a small part of the Teviot River in Otago… gulp, gulp.
If you think that sounds crowded you’d be wrong. There aren’t that many of us. Probably less than 100. So, it’s actually kinda lonely.
Not just any Teviot flathead galaxias — it’s me!
I may not be as famous as Sirocco the kākāpō (…yet), but some of my family are quite well known. Unfortunately for them though, it’s for how they taste in a fritter… gulp, gulp.
I am every bit as threatened as my feathery friend though. We’re both classified in the New Zealand Threat Classification System as ‘nationally critical’—that’s just one step away from ‘extinct’… gulp, gulp.
It’s tough to be a small fish like me, as there are many threats to my home, including land use changes, gravel extraction, water abstraction, drain clearing and declining water quality… gulp, gulp.
On top of all this, introduced trout—who are a lot bigger than me—think I’m quite tasty… gulp, gulp—just like you humans with your whitebait fritters.
Gollum galaxias – classified as ‘nationally vulnerable’
I think there’s room for us all—native fish, trout and humans, but we fish rely on you humans to talk to each other and work together to come up with ways to keep our rivers and lakes clean and beautiful and, importantly, to keep me off the ‘extinct’ list… gulp, gulp.
Longfin eel – classified as ‘declining’
If you’d like to know more about the conservation status of New Zealand freshwater fish you can find our more information on the Waiology blog.
The Department of Conservation website has the official information on where our freshwater fish are rated on the New Zealand Threat Classification System
