Acrobatic flying is as much an expression of personality as of skill. Here, Wolfgang Wimmer delights in the G-forces associated with tumbles and spins.
In May 1891, the government temporarily gazetted Resolution Island, in Dusky Sound, as the country’s first reserve for the preservation of native flora and fauna. Rugged and remote it certainly was, but there was some doubt as to whether it was far enough from the mainland to protect it from swimming predators. Was rival island Little Barrier a better choice? Only after persistent lobbying from Otago over the next two years did the government finally vote funds for a curator who would stock Resolution with birds and look after them. It was Richard Henry’s dream job.
In June 1995, the French government announced it would carry out eight final underground nuclear bomb tests at Moruroa atoll before ratifying the UN’s comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. The announcement provoked a storm of protest around the Pacific. Greenpeace sent ships to the island, protest marches and riots took place in Papeete (left), and a peace flotilla accompanied by the naval ship Tui headed to Moruroa from New Zealand. Marty Taylor sailed aboard Chimera and relives the protests of 10 years ago.
You could say that Selena kept herself warm in the most exotic sleeping bag in New Zealand. Researchers John Dowding and Elaine Murphy uncovered her dwelling while working in Fiordland’s Eglinton valley. “When we looked inside,” recalls John, “we found a bowl of feathers from some of the most endangered native forest birds in the country, including New Zealand robin, kakariki, kereru, mohua (yellowhead) and kaka.” Selena wasn’t some crazed eco-terrorist; she was a stoat the two biologists were tracking.
Riding massive waves of air that form on the lee side of mountain ranges, modern glider pilots may venture higher into the sky than passengers aboard a jumbo jet. The home of South Island gliding, and host to the Perlan Project—an attempt led by American Steve Fossett to soar to 100,000 ft (30,500 m)—is the airfield at Omarama, North Otago. Marty Taylor, here performing a loop above the Benmore Range at a modest 2000 ft (610 m), headed there to reach for the blue yonder.
Crimson mistletoe blossoms were once a summertime feature of New Zealand’s beech forests, but the showier species are now scarce, and carpets of fallen flowers—such as here, on the Circle Track in Fiordland, where Department of Conservation officer Freddie Hughes explains the mistletoe story to walkers—are a rarity. While the appetites of possums have played a part in mistletoe demise, other culprits have recently been implicated.
Despite being hunted to the edge of extinction in the 19th century, New Zealand fur seals seem to be making a modest recovery. Although the animals are still sparse around most of the North Island, several South Island rookeries are increasing in size, making some fishers nervous at the prospect of increasing competition from these efficient predators. Many, however, are entranced by the lithe, playful animals-and regard seals as a great asset to our coastal wildlife.
With their large brains, considerable capacity to learn, and propensity for interacting with humans, dolphins are undoubtedly among the most intelligent—and fascinating— of animals. Yet, given their nomadic lives in the ocean, they are difficult subjects to get to know. The bottlenose dolphins of Fiordland's Doubtful Sound, however, are a resident population, much studied by biologists from the University of Otago, who are starting to piece together the outlines of their mysterious lives.
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