Auckland Islands sign and NZ sea lion pup. Photo Anton van Helden. © Te Papa
Welcome to Our Far South. This coming Friday I will be standing on the dock at Bluff, looking south, and about to board a boat heading to the sub-Antarctic Islands and the great white continent itself as part of the Our Far South project (www.ourfarsouth.org). What will I see?
We all know about Stewart Island and some people might think that is where New Zealand stops; but there is a whole lot of territory even further south than that!
The subantarctic Islands include the Auckland, Campbell and Macquarie Islands where we will see colonies of sea lions, elephant seals, penguins and our everpresent companions of the southern oceans – the albatrosses.
Our Far South is unique, and is an extraordinary area for Whales and seals, sea birds, remarkable plants, fish and invertebrates from the tiniest plankton to the colossal squid! It is also an area that hugely impacts on the world’s climate. As I head south I will report back to you on the natural environment of Our Far South and how its biodiversity, climate and geology is so intricately interconnected.
Elephant Seal Auckland Islands. Photo Anton van Helden .© Te Papa
Our Far South is an area that although remote is impacted by the things that humans do from fishing (and Whaling!!), pollution, oil and mineral exploration, climate-change. I will be looking at these things and reporting back.
So Hat and gloves on and away we go….heading South!
2 Comments
safe travels Anton – and see if you can find us another colossal squid…..
Stay warm and best of luck bringing back photos of spade-toothed whales in the wild (now THAT would be exciting!)