Whale Island Seal Census

On our second trip to Whale Island/Moutuhora for the seal count the weather was much more favourable. I was surprised to spot this female sunbathing on a dead tree - who knew seals climb trees?

The big male below had a face to die for.

This female was a mum with a pup about six weeks old, one of six we found on the island.

And just check out the baby......how cute is that!!!All in all it was a lovely afternoon with some good results. However I would have given anything to have been on the morning charter when Phil our diveworks Skipper had taken a group out to sea. They had come across a small group of dolphin and one of the females had just given birth. All those aboard had been delighted to watch the Mum hold her newborn baby up to the surface to breathe, at times carrying her tiny infant on her back! Imagine the photos I could have taken......... sigh!!!

Miles Art Award

In December I won the Miles Art Award in Tauranga with my painting "Mackerel in Tomato Sauce." I felt very honoured to win the award especially after seeing the exhibition in the Tauranga Art Gallery. The exhibition finishes on the 27th February 2011.

Seal census White Island

Recently I have been very lucky to have been asked out on a number of boat trips to count seals on our two offshore Islands of Whale Island/Moutuhora and White Island/Whakaari. The census is part of the work done by the Department of Conservation and is undertaken by Rosemary Tully of Whakatane Bird Rescue and Phil van Dusschoten who is our skipper and is from Diveworks Charters.

The first trip was to Whale Island and it was a dark drizzly day, not good conditions for photography. The next was to White Island, our local offshore active volcano and the day was a cracker! The sea was as flat as a mill pond and the closer we got to the island the more seabirds we saw. Because it was so smooth I was able to lean over the side of the boat and snap the birds as they flew alongside us. The Bullers Shearwaters were my favourites and I was amazed at how they soared so low over the water that their wingtips skimmed the surface!

This is a Sooty Shearwater or Muttonbird which is a dark chocolate brown.

The gannet with its distinctive yellow head breeds on White Island so there were plenty of these about.

Once at the Island we had lunch floating above a clear garden of kelp and fish while gannets circled to land at their rookery on the cliff above us. Finally we set off in search of seals. Phils boat was perfectly suited to the task as we could get very close to the rocky shore and navigate around rocky outcrops.

We found a lone male but he was to prove the only seal spotted all day so our tally was a grand total of one!

There was plenty of action in the crater with plumes of steam rising from the arid volcanic landscape. Its such a spectacular Island and I was constantly amazed at the clour and movement in the geology of the coastline. All too soon we were done and the Island was slowly shrinking into the distance as we motored home. There was more excitement to come however when Phil spotted a Mako shark jumping. Fortunately I still had my camera around my neck and switched on so I instinctively focused on the spot where the shark had jumped knowing they usually jumped two or three times. (Phil had told me that piece of intormation on the way out when I had seen another mako jump in the distance.) Sure enough it came up again and I quickly snapped this series of three shots which were later published in the New Zealand Herald.
All in all it was a fantastic day, the ocean couldn't have been better and there was never a shortage of things to see.....unless you count the seals of which there was only one!

For more info on a charter of your own visit www.whaleislandtours.com

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Huge apologies for being absent for the last three months, it was not something I had planned - it just worked out that way as I concentrated on other projects, plans and personal avenues in my life. I have recently been given a bit of stick about the lack of posts so I've been pleasantly surprised at how many people actually read them which is quite lovely! So here I go trying to catch up on the last three months... a deep breath as I cast my mind back to October. Gosh it HAS been ages.

I had joined the NZ Geographic group on Flickr, ( a photo sharing site http://www.flickr.com/ ) and was surfing the discussion board late one night when I found an opportunity too good to miss. Photographers were being offered a trip out on the Gemini Galaxsea at a reduced rate to see Blue Whales that were visiting the Tauranga coast. The voyage was departing early the next morning so I booked myself in and tried to get some sleep in beforehand. A few hours later I was at the marina meeting Butler who skippers the vessel. It was a georgous day, conditions were perfect and I was thus sceptical that we would be lucky enough to see whales and have lovely weather! A few miles out and I had gone below deck to grab a warmer jersey when the call went up, "whales!" My first glimpse was a gigantic head rearing up out of the ocean quite a distance away. This turned out to be one of a pair of Brydes Whales and before long we were reasonably close.

That's Mt Maunganui and the Tauranga coast in the background. According to the NZ Geographic website (who have a great interactive page on Whales found in NZ waters) the Brydes Whales are the only baleen whales that feed locally without migrating to the Arctic and they grow to 14.5 metres long. The shot below captures the moment the whale closes its mouth forcing vast amounts of water through its baleen or filtering system collecting krill and other tiny marine life on which it feeds. Unbelievable to think something so huge survives on creatures so tiny!I was so thrilled to see these whales and was amazed at how large they were. Just incredible, I could have gone home then and been happy but the day got even better! About half an hour later we found a Blue Whale, visible from his waterspout on the horizon. I then re-evaluated my concept of large as this leviathon eclipsed every other creature on earth in the size department. Not even the largest dinosaur that ever lived was as big as this baby!

I wished my photos gave a better indication of size but during the dayI realised how difficult it is to get great photos of whales. I was fortunate enough to meet NZ's most accomplished photographer of sea mammals Dr Kim Westerskov who happened to be onboard. Kim is a wildlife photographer and freelance journalist and he also happened to be one of the judges in the Biodiversity photo competition I won last year so it was lovely to meet him and see him in action.

This shot shows the Blue whale filling his baleen full of water his pectoral fin in the air as he feeds on his side and below are his nostrils as he takes a breath!

Later we found another Blue Whale and after onserving for a few minutes realised it was not one but two - a mother and calf which was fantastic. The mother was positioning herself between us and her baby so difficult to get a shot with them both in the frame. Due to D.O.C. regulations protecting marine mammals we were alloted a certain amount of time observing each and when we had used up that time there was still plenty to see and do. There were vast flocks of fluttering shearwaters which Butler cruised through while we photographers hung over the bow rail snapping furiously. These delightful birds are adept at walking on water to stay just in front of the boat and proved popular subjects.

And when we tired of them a quiet cruise around the Karewa Island revealed sunbathing seals and resting shags. Back on dry land I was just buzzing over what I had seen that day. I had taken hundreds of photos, seen the largest animal that has ever lived, met some great people and seen the ecosystem as it should be (apart from a couple of purse seiners filling their nets.) The oceans appeared to be teeming with life, birds everywhere, it was the perfect day! Thanks to NZ Geographic & Butler of Galaxsea Gemini for the opportunity - it was a day I'll never forget.

www.swimwithdolphins.co.nz www.nzgeographic.co.nz

Crazy Critters

While out photographing nature I'm generally on the lookout for birds to snap. Often I am confronted with critters of a different kind altho I was totally unprepared for the beastie I discovered in Sullivans Lake a couple of weeks ago. I thought I was back in Florida when I spotted this red-eared turtle sunbathing on a dead tree branch. He was a bit wary and splashed back into the water when I got too close. I suspect he was someones pet until they got sick of him and released him into this modest man-made lake. Potentially an ecological disaster but in all honesty just one of many. In fact things might turn out ok if he eats all the Koi Carp that reside there. One introduced nasty making good on another introduced nasty! (sarcasm/irony) Speaking of nasties, I took a break yesterday and jumped the back fence to the Riverbank. There were no birds or anything very interesting but it was a lovely day and I figured if I sat and waited something would come along. I was right..... a big fat Rat swam by, he almost as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Disgusting or Cute? Not sure myself but I do know he's another ecological disaster!

To something completely different.... Whakaari or White Island lies out from the coast of my home town. Usually it sits quite unassuming on the horizon but yesterday it was having a bit of a rumble and puff. I wonder what the tourists were thinking that visited her yesterday. Those gas masks would have come in handy! Troy and I were lucky enough to go a few years ago. It was a fantastic day out and I can wholeheartedly reccomend it to locals and visitors alike. Fantastic place and a unique experience.

Last weekend I was stuck at home both days so I had to entertain myself with the usual suspects found in my backyard. The Starlings are building nests in the woodshed again! Messy buggers.

This Thrush already has babies hatched and is busy collecting worms for them. While I watched she dug up a big fat worm only to have a kingfisher zoom down and steal it from under her nose.

Yesterday morning was a beauty and for once the whitebaiters hadn't hogged all my good bird photographing possies. I got this shot of a heron taking off which I was quite pleased with.

I met an interesting young character the same morning. This is Stanley. He let me photograph him with his puppy "Eel" before he headed back to the skate bowl with his buddies. I really wanted him to leave Eel with me but no such luck!