Handheld Snares Island snipe on Putauhinu Island

Putauhinu Island is a 141 ha muttonbird island south-west of Stewart Island. The muttonbirders on Putauhinu have worked closely with the Department of Conservation (and its predecessor the New Zealand Wildlife Service) to restore the island’s ecology, including eradicating Pacific rats in 1995, and translocating and releasing South Island saddlebacksRead more

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Qwelrakrak solfatara looking east towards Mota Lava

Two of Te Papa’s Natural Environment staff recently returned from two weeks seabird research in northern Vanuatu. Colin Miskelly (Curator Terrestrial Vertebrates) here recounts some of the adventures he had with Alan Tennyson (Curator Fossil Vertebrates) during early March 2011. Back in 2001 New Zealanders Mike Imber and Alan TennysonRead more

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Kia ora kotou Dr Hamish Campell has just sent through an article he has written for the NZ Herald. The text is reproduced in full below. Hamish is Senior Scientist at GNS Science and is Te Papa’s geological advisor. Bill Fry, GNS Science Seismologist, also explains Tuesday’s catastrophic events in thisRead more

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Preparing to lift the lid off the squid tank.

We can all do with a check-up every so often – just to ensure things are going ok and we’re not falling apart. Today our team took the lid off the colossal squid tank and started to drain out the preservation fluid so we can give the colossal squid a check-up. WeRead more

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Parakeet beaks found on Stephens Island. Photograph reproduced courtesy of Colin Miskelly

In December last year I was contacted by Department of Conservation staff on Stephens Island reporting that they had found a bone that looked like a parrot’s beak in their vegetable garden, and asking if I could help identify it. Stephens Island Nature Reserve lies off the northern tip ofRead more

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Nets set up to see what small creatures might be swept off the land and into the atmosphere – to be transported across the oceans! Photo reproduced courtesy of Campbell Island Bicentennial Expedition

Right now, on New Zealand’s southernmost island group, a team of 11 researchers and their support crew are wandering around the cold, windswept Campbell Island, studying the island’s rich ecology and history, and its recovery from decades of grazing and the world’s largest island rat eradication. And you can followRead more

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Scientists preparing video unit before its deployment at 1200 m depth. March 2010, Three Kings Islands. Te Papa, photograph by Vincent Zintzen

The start of a new sampling campaign is always a very exciting moment for scientists. After months of careful preparations, our fourth deep-sea sampling station is becoming a reality. In three days, Carl, Tom and myself from Te Papa are joining our boat the Star Keys, her crew and two other scientists from MasseyRead more

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The shrub Rhaphithamnus venustus (Verbenaceae). Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

During a recent family holiday to central and southern Chile, I was able to do a bit of botanising. In addition to several plants endemic to Chile, we also saw several with a Pacific connection. First stop was a day trip to the National Botanic Gardens at Viña del MarRead more

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This morning, our fish team went to a small boatshed in Breaker Bay on Wellington’s south coast to pick up a great white shark.  Not your normal morning mission and a bittersweet one at that as these creatures are endagered animals and a protected species.  The shark had been ensnaredRead more

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