Our first sight of land since Antarctica in the dim small hours of the 3rd of March was Campbell Island. Campbell Island is home to more species of albatross than anywhere else in the New Zealand region with 6 species breeding here. The most conspicuous of these being the SouthernRead more
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-petrelRead more
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 stayRead more
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.Read more
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 spillRead more
As part of a project to publish the wildlife diaries of Edgar Stead, I am revisiting some of the islands that Stead camped on during the period 1929-1947. The main focus is describing how the ecology of the islands has changed since Stead’s time. The visits also provide an opportunityRead more
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 theRead more
The team of Te Papa bird specialists is continuing to help at the wildlife recovery centre in Tauranga as both live and dead oiled birds continue to come ashore 3 weeks after the grounding of the M.V. Rena. Our job is primarily to make sure that dead birds are correctly identifiedRead more
Dead oiled wildlife continues to be collected from Bay of Plenty beaches, and the Te Papa Natural Environment team has been assisting with the Wildlife Recovery Centres activities of documenting and recovering species affected by the oil. The species found oiled include the many birds which nest in the BayRead more
Te Papa bird staff are providing expert assistance to Maritime New Zealand and Massey University veterinary staff in the form of identifying birds affected by the oil spill. Three current and one former staff member have been a ‘tag team’ since 12 October, identifying the hundreds of corpses recovered byRead more
Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly tells the sixth part of the unfolding story of the emperor penguin that went where none had gone before (at least in the age of digital media). Colin is a member of the committee advising on the care and rehabilitation ofRead more
Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly tells the fifth part of the unfolding story of the emperor penguin that went where none had gone before (at least in the age of digital media). Colin accompanied Department of Conservation staff to Peka Peka Beach on the morning ofRead more
It started as a trickle and soon developed into a flood of devastating proportions. On 11 July 2011 I received an email enquiry from a family at Waikanae seeking help with identifying an unusual seabird that they had found dead on their driveway. It was a Salvin’s prion, a not-too-unexpectedRead more
The advent of GPS in cell-phones and car navigation systems has done a lot to render this technology accessible for a variety of users, devices are now only 10-20 g in weight, and can cost as little as $100 a piece. Satellite telemetry was first used to study flying birdsRead more
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
