Search Results for: shearwater

Life in the Burrow

3 May 2012 – 4.07pm

By Alison Burnett and Susan Waugh The austral summer is the peak breeding season for seabirds in New Zealand. Te Papa is undertaking research into the impacts of seabird mortality in fisheries on shearwater populations over the next 2 summers. We began the study in January 2012, surveying islands to assess changes in the numbers […]

By Susan Waugh | Posted in Biodiversity, Field trips | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Vegetation notes from Mauimua / Lady Alice island, Hen and Chickens group

27 April 2012 – 9.54am

The Hen and Chicken islands are a familiar landmark located some 10 to 19 km off the Whangarei coast. From 28 March to 6 April this year, four of us (Robyn Blyth, Raymond Thorley and Jean-Claude Stahl from Te Papa, Kalin Lewis from Ngati Wai) stayed on Mauimua / Lady Alice island, the largest of […]

By Te Papa | Posted in Plants | Tagged | Comments (0)

Are muttonbirds radioactive?

26 March 2012 – 2.00pm

The March 2011 Japanese earthquake and following tsunami took a terrible human toll, and also had devastating impacts on wildlife. As the tsunami tracked east it washed over the low-lying atolls of the north-western Hawaiian islands, killing thousands of albatrosses and petrels. The tsunami also crippled the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power-plant, sending a plume of radiation […]

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Birds, Disasters, Field trips | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

Zooming-in on New Zealand Storm-Petrel breeding sites

3 March 2012 – 10.34am

Teamwork during a Te Papa funded charter trip in the Hauraki Gulf got us a step closer in the hunt for the breeding grounds of the recently rediscovered New Zealand Storm-Petrel (Pelaeornis maoriana). The search team included Te Papa researcher Jean-Claude Stahl, Chris Gaskin who is part of the New Zealand storm-petrel research group, and Brett Rathe […]

By Te Papa | Posted in Birds, Field trips | Comments (0)

Into the Southern Ocean

24 February 2012 – 3.38pm

It has been a few days since our last update. During this time, we have been island hopping on the way down to the Auckland Islands. After refuelling and restocking the food cupboards, we departed Bluff on a lovely sunny summer’s day, hoping that the good weather will to stay with us for the next […]

By Te Papa | Posted in Field trips, Fish | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Plant communities of Titi Island, Marlborough Sounds

17 February 2012 – 4.19pm

Titi Island is a 32 hectare slab of schistose tuff and sandstone tilted upwards towards the north, with a moderately steep forested slope opening up to a breathtaking façade of high cliffs overlooking Cook Strait. Shearwater surveys on the island in January provided an opportunity to record local plant communities. A summary of the vegetation […]

By Te Papa | Posted in Plants | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Night Life on the Poor Knights Islands

3 February 2012 – 1.19pm

The Poor Knights Islands, northeast of Whangarei, are perhaps best known as a world-class diving location, but the life on land is no less astonishing and it really comes alive at night.  In December 2011, I assisted seabird expert Graeme Taylor with his work on the migration of Buller’s Shearwaters.  This species of petrel breeds […]

By Te Papa | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Bugs, insects and spiders, Reptiles | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (5)

Te Papa seabird researchers in the field

2 February 2012 – 10.55am

Te Papa researchers are studying wildlife populations in the field to find out about their diversity and behaviours, distribution and threats, with a programme of research on the shearwaters found nesting in New Zealand. We were privileged to visit Titi Island in the outer Pelorus Sound (Marlborough) for our summer field programme. Titi Island on Google maps  […]

By lucyhoffman | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Collections Online | Tagged , | Comments (2)

One step forward after three steps back – slow progress with restoring populations of New Zealand seabirds

13 January 2012 – 8.05am

2011 was a grim year for New Zealand seabirds. They suffered the triple-whammy of nuclear-fallout from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant affecting the North Pacific non-breeding grounds of at least four species, a severe winter storm that killed up to half a million prions, then the Rena oil spill believed to have killed several […]

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Bay of Plenty oil spill, Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Riders of the storm – the severely depleted next generation

13 December 2011 – 11.29am

2011 was a terrible year for New Zealand seabirds. The Rena oil spill in October received the most media coverage and provided dramatic images (see Rena oil spill blogs). More insidious were the impacts of the Japanese earthquake and ensuing tsunami in March. A plume of radioactive fallout from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power […]

By Colin Miskelly | Posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Disasters, Field trips | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)
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