During the coldest time each year the Matariki star cluster comes rising up for the first time in the eastern sky. This occurrence marks the beginning of an important time of year – the Māori New Year. In this series of blogs, Te Papa Education hopes to introduce you to each of the seven members of this star whānau, from… Read more »
During the coldest time each year the Matariki star cluster comes rising up for the first time in the eastern sky. This occurrence marks the beginning of an important time of year – the Māori New Year. This is a time for coming together with whānau (family) to think about the past year, plan for the future,… Read more »
In early December 2014, three Te Papa Botany Staff embarked on a 11 day field trip from Otago to North Canterbury. We collected specimens, images and DNA samples of native forget-me-nots (Myosotis) and New Zealand hebes (Veronica). See the first blog in this series for more detail. Along the way, other native (and naturalised) species were also collected for Te… Read more »
In late 2014, Te Papa Botany Staff embarked on a 11 day field trip from Otago to North Canterbury. We collected specimens, images and DNA samples of native forget-me-nots (Myosotis spp.) and New Zealand hebes (Veronica spp.). See the first blog in this series for the detailed itinerary. Along the way, other native (and naturalised) species were also collected for Te Papa’s herbarium. All… Read more »
Crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) might be one of the most abundant large mammals on the planet, but they rarely swim as far north as New Zealand. They are one of the characteristic animals of the pack ice zone that encircles Antarctica, hauling out on the floating ice to rest, breed, and to escape the attention… Read more »
Introducing a significant part of Te Papa’s macro-algae (seaweed) collection – The complete Algae Nova-Zelandicae Exciccatae by Victor W Lindauer. Algae Nova-Zelandicae Exsiccatae – 14 Fascicles – Victor W Lindauer. Victor Willhelm Lindauer (1888-1964) was a school teacher who became fascinated with seaweeds after he met a team of North American phycologists (seaweed scientists) who visited the Bay of Islands in 1935. Between 1939 and… Read more »
Te Papa vertebrate curator Dr Colin Miskelly recently led a team that visited Takapourewa / Stephens Island Nature Reserve, to select and gather up 100 fairy prion chicks to move to Mana Island near Wellington. This is the sixth (and last) in a series of blogs about the project and the wildlife of Takapourewa. As… Read more »
Te Papa vertebrate curator Dr Colin Miskelly recently led a team that visited Takapourewa / Stephens Island Nature Reserve, to select and gather up 100 fairy prion chicks to move to Mana Island near Wellington. This is the fifth in a series of blogs about the project and the wildlife of Takapourewa. Entering the forest… Read more »
Te Papa vertebrate curator Dr Colin Miskelly recently led a team that visited Takapourewa / Stephens Island Nature Reserve, to select and gather up 100 fairy prion chicks to move to Mana Island near Wellington. This is the fourth in a series of blogs about the project and the wildlife of Takapourewa. Takapourewa holds a… Read more »
Fairy prions are small burrow-nesting seabirds that breed in large colonies on many islands around New Zealand. The largest colony (of about 1.8 million pairs) is on Takapourewa / Stephens Island in the western approaches to Cook Strait. As part of a project to restore the ecology of Mana Island (off the Wellington west coast),… Read more »