Godwits and wrybills roost on chenier shell banks at Miranda, and the western shore of the Firth of Thames. Each year, godwits will embark on the longest non-stop migration of any bird in the world, flying from this site to the Yellow Sea in China, then to Alaska, and returning across the Pacific, direct, to New Zealand.
Deep channels lead inland from the harbour entrance. The edges are laced with mangroves and the shallows green with meadows of seagrass. These are nurseries for small fish and rich habitats for shellfish and other crustaceans.
Eagle rays bask in the warm, clear shallows of Parengarenga, one of the best preserved harbour systems in New Zealand.
In many of Auckland's older suburbs, stormwater and sewerage is combined. As the population has increased, infrastructure has failed to adapt adequately, and changes in climate make rainfall events more intense.
The irony is that the camera can't see far enough to properly document the worst sites in the Hauraki Gulf—they're too turbid to see more than a foot. So we're here, in the serene and relatively intact harbour environment at Leigh, to film human impact where the water remains clear enough to get a picture, but where our influence is becoming obvious.
At Pōnui Island, under the shade of picturesque pōhutukawa, effluent from a farm drains into the Waiheke Channel adjacent to the Te Matuku Marine Reserve. Stock roam freely through the waterway and the wetland above it. The smell, fortunately for the viewer, can only be imagined.
A Leigh Fisheries longliner reels in a catch with practiced efficiency. Target species—such as snapper—go to the fish bin and then to market, and a flick of the wrist dispatches non-target species back into the sea.
Experience the Hauraki Gulf in VR on your home computer or phone...
We are citizens of the sea. Māori arrived in New Zealand by sea, as did Pakeha, and our commercial centre of Auckland lies on the shores of two harbours and at the headwaters of the immense Hauraki Gulf, Tikapa Moana.
Snapper congregate in the shallows of Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve at an abundance and maturity that may closely reflect the original snapper populations of the Hauraki Gulf. There are three to four times the number of snapper inside the reserve as outside and up to ten times the number of crayfish.
Fishing effort, day after day, century after century, has changed the shape of this place. It’s still heaving with reef fish, but the predators are gone. It’s still resplendent with sargassum weed, but kina that were once devoured by snapper and other reef predators are tearing holes through the fabric of the ecosystem.
An ecosystem in balance is marked by diversity and abundance. An ecosystem out of balance is a desert of monotony. Here at Nordic Reef, snapper populations have been depleted by overfishing, kina populations have exploded and devoured all the kelp, sponges and algae.
Northern Arch is a 40-metre-deep cut in a sheer rock wall at the northern end of the Poor Knights. Like a busy city alley it attracts hoards of life—thousands of fish.
South of the Poor Knights stand a crop of rocky spires called The Pinnacles. Under the largest is a cathedral-like cavern called Tie Dye Arch, named for the kaleidoscope of colours that clad every surface like graffiti.
Making New Zealand a little more real to New Zealanders, using virtual reality.
At a group of tall rock stacks south of the Poor Knights is a huge cavern at a depth of 25 metres, choked with fish and rays, and wallpapered in colourful sponges.
In the underwater labyrinth of the Poor Knights islands are fish that have learned to talk. Dive in with scientist Lucy Van Oosterom, who is trying to figure out what they're saying.
Join scientist Lucy van Oosterom on an underwater scooter at the Poor Knights.
Blue Maomao Arch, tucked into a corner of South Harbour at the Poor Knights hosts huge aggregations of maomao. But can you see the demoiselles?
At the northern extent of the Poor Knights Islands is a gash in the rock, cutting through a promontory to a depth of more than 40 metres. Pink maomao and rays parade through it, day in day out.
3
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? Sign in
Signed in as . Sign out
Thanks, you're good to go!
Thanks, you're good to go!
Ask your librarian to subscribe to this service next year. Alternatively, use a home network and buy a digital subscription—just $1/week...
Subscribe to our free newsletter for news and prizes
