The 2023 Strannik Auckland Island Expedition: An extraordinary botanical voyage to the subantarctic

In January 2023, Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt was one of a team of Aotearoa New Zealand botanists and crew who travelled to Motu Maha Auckland Islands to undertake botanical research and make new collections. Here, she provides an overview of Motu Maha Auckland Islands, how and why they travelled there, and an introduction to this blog series about their 2023 Strannik Auckland Island Expedition.

Motu Maha Auckland Islands

Motu Maha Auckland Islands are of significance to Ngā Tahu, and are sometimes also called Maungahuka or Maukahuka. They are one of five New Zealand subantarctic island groups, all of which are classified both as National Nature Reserves (which is the highest possible conservation status) as well as UNESCO World Heritage status. They are located about 465 km south of Bluff on the southern tip of the South Island, at approximately 50° S latitude 166° E longitude.

There are several islands and islets in the archipelago, with the largest one being the pear-shaped Auckland Island.

Motu Maha Auckland Islands have a geological history that includes both ancient volcanoes and subsequent glaciation. Today they have a varied, rugged and often steep topography that generally includes many inlets on the eastern side, steep and inaccessible cliffs along the western side, and mountainous terrain in the interior.

The topography can be seen in this video, taken on 24 Jan 2023 on the tops near the Tower of Babel, on the southern part of Auckland Island, which shows Carnley Harbour, Adams Island and Southwest Cape.

The highest peak is Mt Dick (on Adams Island) which reaches 705 m above sea level. The islands have a subpolar oceanic climate that is consistently cool, wet and windy throughout the year.

Motu Maha Auckland Islands have a rich and special history, flora and fauna, and are critical breeding grounds for many seabirds (including albatrosses, penguins and petrels) and the New Zealand sea lion. The archipelago is also home to a number of native and endemic land birds, invertebrates, and plants.

The why – Botanical survey and collecting

And speaking of plants: Motu Maha Auckland Islands have a rich flora, with around 200 native vascular plant species, including many found only on subantarctic islands.

The aim of our expedition was to compile data on the distribution and abundance of these native plant species, as well as get high-quality images of them all. Our data and images will contribute toward completing a manuscript focused on the New Zealand Subantarctic Flora, which was compiled by the late David Given (1943–2005), an outstanding New Zealand botanist and conservationist.

Additional goals of the expedition included documenting the distribution, abundance and ecology of all weeds on the island; collating observations of the impacts of pigs on the flora and vegetation; collecting and studying the fungal species; and making collections of plants to be studied further in various research projects on their classification and evolution.

We also made hundreds of additional observations of the flora and fauna of Auckland Island which can be seen on our project on iNaturalist.

The how – The MV Strannik, crew and research team

Our expedition was conceived and organised by Rodney Russ and Alex Fergus, who together have decades of experience in the subantarctic islands, and are passionate about their flora and fauna.

The expedition was privately funded, and most of the research team and crew volunteered their time and resources to be a part of it. (NB I was an exception as I was fully supported by Te Papa to participate.)

We were very fortunate to be hosted by Rodney on his stunning ship, the MV Strannik.

In addition to Rodney at the helm, there were three other crew members: Simon Truebridge (engineer), Steve Abley, and Katie Frame.

The seven botanists on the research team were Alex Fergus, Fiona Thomson, Toni Atkinson, Brian Rance, Chris Morse, Chris Stowe, and myself.

We spent a total of 27 days on the Strannik, including 20 days actually undertaking field research on Auckland Island (and 12 of those in upland or alpine areas), including 7 nights of camping at 5 different sites.

Stay tuned for more!

So, we have a lot of stories, images and results to share with you, and one blog simply won’t be enough. Stay tuned because we’ve got several blogs planned in this series about our expedition. Everything from the flora, fungi, and critters that we saw and studied, to some of our favourite plants and places, to our research collections and preliminary findings, to peeking behind the scenes with our expedition team on the ship and the island.

I hope you enjoy this expedition as much as we did!