Wednesday July 23, 2014 Kaikoura Adventures

Kia Ora!

The Squad hiking the Kaikoura Coast

The squad hopped out of bed this morning, ate breakfast at the Dusky Lodge, and headed out for a day of adventures. We started off by checking Whale Watch Kaikoura to see if the weather was clear enough for some of us to experience the sperm whales right off the coast. Unfortunately the waves were too rough and the tours were canceled.

However, we did still learn about whales in the reception area! One of our favorite things we discovered was about the giant sperm whale's buoyancy. Due to the large quantities of oil in their bodies, they can regulate it. By regulating the temperature of spermaceti in their heads, the sperm whale can alter it's buoyancy. When exposed to cold air on the surface, the oil cools and hardens forming a solid wax denser than the water that helps them descend. To melt the waxy film, the whale's capillaries pump blood which allows them to be less dense and ascend more easily.

We jumped back in the Gator Waka and drove to tea time at the Why Not Cafe. With some warm drinks in our bellies, we were ready for our hike around the Peninsula Seal Colony on the Kaikoura Coast. We started at Point Kean where we ran into many resting Kekeno (the Maori name for New Zealand Fur Seals meaning "looks around").

Fur seal "looking around"

Fun Fact: During the winter months there is a large increase of males at Point Kean. In the Spring/Summer (breeding season) the males travel to larger breeding colonies so there are less likely to be as many here. They are also less aggressive in the winter since they are not competing for mates.

Colony of fur seal at Kaikoura

Reading the information signs was really interesting. We learned that the only fur seal killers on land are humans and stray dogs. At sea they may be killed by sharks and orcas. Major threats to the sea puppies include synthetic packaging, looped lines, and pieces of discarded nets. They will occasionally swallow plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfish. This can cause a slow painful death.

The squad then hiked up the trail around the coast to learn about the Titi (Hutton's Shearwater). These pelagic birds are endemic to the Kaikoura area. The Te Rae O Atiu area that sits in the bird's flight path to the mountains. There are strong sea breezes here which help the birds take flight. Most of the time these birds are at sea, however they come ashore to nest. The first thing we saw when walking up was a predator proof fence. It is part of a conservation effort by Hutton's Shearwater Charitable Trust. The fence was put up in 2008 due to the rats and stoats significantly reducing the number of nesting colonies found in the area. In order to establish colonies within the fence 2-month old chicks were taken from their mountain burrows before they would normally leave and placed in artificial burrows at this site. They were hand fed and biologists hoped the babies would imprint on the area and return to lay their own eggs. The project has been successful! The number of shearwaters has increased since then and they are continuing to breed at that site! Not only is this area important to the birds, but the birds are important to the land as well because they bring in a lot of nutrition from the sea to the mountains.

Erin enjoying the magnificent views

The site is actually on Maori land and the people are excited about being involved. This is because they traditionally eat them but cannot until the population is stronger in it's numbers.

We continued along the coast, seeing MANY more fur seals and even spotting a few dusky dolphins! After the hike, we stopped for lunch before hitting the road to Lincoln University. A long 3 hour drive put us back at campus just in time for dinner and a night of catching up on our class journals!

Squad Love

Cheers!
Sam and Katherine