Read more
Science & Environment

Jellyfish

Drifting at any depth in all the world’s oceans, these creatures range from an Arctic species with a bell the size of a car, to a venomous microscopic Australian. Carnivorous predators, jellyfish swarm around our coasts and litter our beaches, yet we know surprisingly little about them. Some of the most recognisable species don’t even qualify as true jellyfish. One such, a Portuguese Man of War (Physalia physalis), its inflated bladder keeping it poised at the surface, is not even a single animal, but a sizeable colony containing four types of minute, highly modified polyps.

Magazine

ISSUE 102

Mar - Apr 2010

Tasman Solo

Wild pines

Jellyfish

Farming

Circus

Chew Chong

Subscribe
Read more
Editorial

EDITORIAL

Land— stuff to be owned, tilled, trusted. Sea—frighten­ing and inconsistent, a realm to be plundered but never tamed. Issue 102 seems to bear out these prejudices. On January 20, Shaun Quincey rowed out from Coff’s Harbour in New South Wales and into the Tasman Sea, a body of water which his father, Colin, had first rowed solo in 1977. But despite great advanc­es in navigation and forecasting between these attempts, any blue-water voyage is a journey into the unknown. Quincey en­countered a storm front within days and was buffeted and beaten, almost into submis­sion. “Honestly, if Dad hadn’t already rowed this, I wouldn’t have thought it was possible,” he says in this issue. Even as this magazine goes to print, Quincey is still out there, battling the odds and the weather, inching ever closer to his goal, stroke by stroke. For centuries, the sea has been con­sidered a bottomless pit, a rich pan­try for plunder on the one hand and a desolate void on the other. Either way, the beguiling reflections on the surface draw a veil over the goings-on beneath. New Zealand’s endemic jellyfish are a case in point. Writer Margo White and art director Andrew Caldwell worked closely with world-leading jellyfish taxonomist Lisa Gershwin to put together the feature in this issue. So little is known of our species that every other photograph submitted by contributors offered a surprise—jellyfish of forms not known to exist here, jellyfish with colorations not matching their scientific descrip­tion, and jellyfish that were completely unidentifiable. But if the seas are a mystery, the land has been tamed, tortured even. In the feature on Canterbury, Matt Philp describes the mechanisation of the modern farm—robotic milking sheds, combine harvesters that increase pro­ductivity four-fold, and irrigators that can tend nearly a square kilometre at a time—a far cry from the early dairy farming described in the feature on the Taranaki pioneer Chew Chong. But progressive decisions made with the best of intentions today may not serve us well in the future. Dave Hans-ford looks back to the 1950s, when Pi­nus contorta seeds were dumped by the plane-load over the country to control erosion. Wilding pines are now spread­ing rapidly and conservation groups are devising increasingly sophisticated and daring methods to control them, includ­ing swinging from a 15 m chain beneath a screaming helicopter with a chainsaw between the legs. Talk about putting your life on the line—only Shaun Quincey may be able to empathise.

Trending

Archive

Issue 162
Mar - Apr 2020

Issue 161
Jan - Feb 2020

Issue 160
Nov - Dec 2019

Issue 159
Sep - Oct 2019

Issue 158
Jul - Aug 2019

Issue 157
May - Jun 2019

Issue 156
Mar - Apr 2019

Issue 155
Jan - Feb 2019

Issue 154
Nov - Dec 2018

Issue 153
Sep - Oct 2018

Issue 152
Jul - Aug 2018

Issue 151
May - Jun 2018

Issue 150
Mar - Apr 2018

Issue 149
Jan - Feb 2018

Issue 148
Nov - Dec 2017

Issue 147
Sep - Oct 2017

Issue 146
Jul - Aug 2017

Issue 145
May - Jun 2017

Issue 144
Mar - Apr 2017

Issue 143
Jan - Feb 2017

Issue 142
Nov – Dec 2016

Issue 141
Sep - Oct 2016

Issue 140
Jul-Aug 2016

Issue 139
May - June 2016

Issue 138
Mar - Apr 2016

Issue 137
Jan - Feb 2016

Issue 136
Nov - Dec 2015

Issue 135
Sep - Oct 2015

Issue 134
Jul - Aug 2015

Issue 133
May - Jun 2015

Issue 132
Mar - Apr 2015

Issue 131
Jan - Feb 2015

Issue 130
Nov - Dec 2014

Issue 129
Sep - Oct 2014

Issue 128
Jul - Aug 2014

Issue 127
May - Jun 2014

Issue 126
Mar - Apr 2014

Issue 125
Jan - Feb 2014

Issue 124
Nov - Dec 2014

Issue 123
Sep - Oct 2013

Issue 122
Jul - Aug 2013

Issue 121
May - Jun 2013

Issue 120
Mar - Apr 2013

Issue 119
Jan - Feb 2013

Issue 118
Nov - Dec 2012

Issue 117
Sep - Oct 2012

Issue 116
Jul - Aug 2012

Issue 115
May - Jun 2012

Issue 114
Mar - Apr 2012

Issue 113
Jan - Feb 2012

Issue 112
Nov - Dec 2011

Issue 111
Sept - Oct 2011

Issue 110
July - Aug 2011

Issue 109
May - June 2011

Issue 108
Mar - Apr 2011

Issue 107
Jan - Feb 2011

Issue 106
Nov - Dec 2010

Issue 105
Sep - Oct 2010

Issue 104
July - Aug 2010

Issue 103
May - June 2010

Issue 102
Mar - Apr 2010

Issue 101
Jan - Feb 2010

Issue 100
Nov - Dec 2009

Issue 99
Sep - Oct 2009

Issue 98
July - Aug 2009

Issue 97
May - June 2009

Issue 96
Mar - Apr 2009

Issue 95
Jan - Feb 2009

Issue 94
Nov - Dec 2008

Issue 93
Sep - Oct 2008

Issue 92
July - Aug 2008

Issue 91
May - Jun 2008

Issue 90
Mar - Apr 2008

Issue 89
Jan - Feb 2008

Issue 88
Nov - Dec 2007

Issue 87
Sep - Oct 2007

Issue 86
July - Aug 2007

Issue 85
May - June 2007

Issue 84
Mar - Apr 2007

Issue 83
Jan - Feb 2007

Issue 82
Nov - Dec 2006

Issue 81
Sep - Oct 2006

Issue 80
July - Aug 2006

Issue 79
May - June 2006

Issue 78
Mar - Apr 2006

Issue 77
Jan - Feb 2006

Issue 76
Nov - Dec 2005

Issue 75
Sep - Oct 2005

Issue 74
Jul - Aug 2005

Issue 73
May - June 2005

Issue 72
Mar - Apr 2005

Issue 71
Jan - Feb 2005

Issue 70
Nov - Dec 2004

Issue 69
Sep - Oct 2004

Issue 68
July - Aug 2004

Issue 67
Jan - Feb 2004

Issue 66
Nov - Dec 2003

Issue 65
Sep - Oct 2003

Issue 64
July - Aug 2003

Issue 63
May - June 2003

Issue 62
Mar - Apr 2003

Issue 61
Jan - Feb 2003

Issue 60
Nov - Dec 2002

Issue 59
Sep - Oct 2002

Issue 58
Jul - Aug 2002

Issue 57
May - Jun 2002

Issue 56
Mar - Apr 2002

Issue 55
Jan - Feb 2002

Issue 54
Nov - Dec 2001

Issue 53
Sept - Oct 2001

Issue 52
Jul - Aug 2001

Issue 51
May - Jun 2001

Issue 50
Mar - Apr 2001

Issue 49
Jan - Feb 2001

Issue 48
Oct - Dec 2000

Issue 47
Jul - Sep 2000

Issue 46
Apr - Jun 2000

Issue 45
Jan - Mar 2000

Issue 44
Oct - Dec 1999

Issue 43
Jul - Sep 1999

Issue 42
Apr - Jun 1999

Issue 41
Jan - Mar 1999

Issue 40
Oct - Dec 1998

Issue 39
Jul - Sep 1998

Issue 38
Apr - Jun 1998

Issue 37
Jan - Mar 1998

Issue 36
Oct - Dec 1997

Issue 35
Jul - Sep 1997

Issue 34
Apr - Jun 1997

Issue 33
Jan - Mar 1997

Issue 32
Oct - Dec 1996

Issue 31
Jul - Sep 1996

Issue 30
Apr - Jun 1996

Issue 29
Jan - March 1996

Issue 28
Oct - Dec 1995

Issue 27
Jul - Sep 1995

Issue 26
Apr - Jun 1995

Issue 25
Jan - Mar 1995

Issue 24
Oct - Dec 1994

Issue 23
Jul - Sep 1994

Issue 22
Apr - Jun 1994

Issue 21
Jan - Mar 1994

Issue 20
Oct - Dec 1993

Issue 19
Jul - Sep 1993

Issue 18
Apr - Jun 1993

Issue 17
Jan - Mar 1993

Issue 16
Sep - Dec 1992

Issue 15
Jul - Sep 1992

Issue 14
Apr - Jun 1992

Issue 13
Jan - Mar 1992

Issue 12
Oct - Dec 1991

Issue 11
Jul - Sep 1991

Issue 10
Apr - Jun 1991

Issue 9
Jan - Mar 1991

Issue 8
Oct - Dec 1990

Issue 7
Jul - Sep 1990

Issue 6
Apr - Jun 1990

Issue 5
Jan - Mar 1990

Issue 4
Oct - Dec 1989

Issue 3
Jul - Sep 1989

Issue 2
Apr - Jun 1989

Issue 1
Jan - Mar 1989
Read more
Science & Environment

Wilding Pines

Pinus contorta, a native conifer of North America, was deliberately seeded through swathes of high country and conservation estate as a counter-measure to erosion. These rugged self-seeding trees and other stray exotics now infest hundreds of thousands of hectares throughout the country.

Read more
Living World

The merchant of Taranaki

In a climate of fanatical anti-Chinese sentiment, Chew Chong saved the bacon of Taranaki pioneer farmers, contributed significantly to New Zealand’s dairy industry, and was acknowledged for it in his lifetime.
Read more
Science & Environment

Twilight of Idyll

Modern agriculture’s rhythms are urgent, its scale corporate. Driving across the Canterbury plains today there are futuristic grain research stations, slick billboards promoting yield-boosting technologies, and the now-ubiquitous centre-pivot irrigators that extend 500 metres like pylons brought to earth.

Read more
Geography

Solo

Waves surrendered their foaming crests to the sky, sheared off and carried in the wind to hammer against the hull of the small boat like nails tossed from a speeding car. The crackling surface seethed and thrashed at the gunwales, licked the scuppers, and water lobbed into the cockpit.
Read more
Living World

Circus; A world of upside down, of big stacked on small

Circus is a kind of magic, arrived at by blood, sweat and tears. You sense the magic the moment you step off Christchurch’s noisy Moorhouse Avenue and into the hall that houses CircoArts, a two year diploma programme at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology that prepares its students for a career under the Big Top.

3 FREE ARTICLES LEFT

Subscribe for $1  | 

3 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH

Keep reading for just $1

Unlimited access to every NZGeo story ever written and hundreds of hours of natural history documentaries on all your devices.

$1 trial for two weeks, thereafter $8.50 every two months, cancel any time

Already a subscriber?

Signed in as . Sign out

Please log in

This page requires an NZGeo.com account. Please create one below, or sign in if you already have one.

* We’ll never pass your email address to third parties, or send you spammy stuff, we promise.

Thanks, you're good to go!

Thanks, you're good to go!

LET'S DO THIS

SEE THE OPTIONS

{{ contentNotIncluded('company') }} has not subscribed to {{ contentNotIncluded('contentType') }}.

Ask your librarian to subscribe to this service next year. Alternatively, use a home network and buy a digital subscription—just $1/week...

Go back

×

Subscribe to our free newsletter for news and prizes