Discover why ‘The Devil’s Sea’ off the south coast of Japan is so extraordinarily deadly and decide for yourself if this stretch of water could be the Bermuda Triangle of the Pacific.
A clumsy albatross.
The Kakapo is an anachronism in a modern world. Large solitary and flightless, it’s a New Zealand parrot, but with a difference – a bird that sleeps by day and walks the forest floor by night. Being nocturnal the Kakapo has, until now been a bird with many secrets. Because of the difficulties in compiling a documentary on a species that comes out only after dark, most of the behavioural sequences that make this film unique – had to be filmed with the aid of special night-vision equipment.
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.
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.
Welcome to the aquarium.
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.
New Zealand is home to a variety of remarkable plants and animals; among them species like the Tuatara and Weta, the Kauri and the Kiwi.
Explore a Snares-crested penguin colony with 360 video.
Crayfish, Lobster or Langouste whatever the name, it is among the most sought after animals in the sea, but surprisingly little is known of the life of crayfish on the reef.
Promiscuous, incestuous and homosexual, our native swamp hen is a rather remarkable bird. At Western Springs Wetlands, deep in Auckland’s western suburbs, two families of pukeko carry on their very communal lifestyle in an entirely natural way – despite pressures from other birds, and hand-outs of stale bread and buns.
Past invasions of New Zealand by Polynesian and European settlers has left the wildlife of New Zealand in complete disarray. Kakapos, takahes, saddlebacks, kokakoes, giant wekas, and tuataras are all critically endangered New Zealand species currently the subject of different management techniques aimed at ensuring their survival – all in the cause of trying to save our natural heritage before it is too late.
Little Blue Penguins run the gauntlet to escape Great White Sharks – but they’re not the only species flirting with death on New Zealand’s famous Stewart Island.
Final presentation for the Photo Aotearoa photojournalism workshop, hosted at Turangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia, May 2022. Edited by Melanie Burford. Photographed by Edith Amituanai, Te Rawhitiroa Bosch, Tatsiana Chypsanava, Mattheus Elwood, Tash Hopkins, Jodie James, Rachel Mataira, Joshua McCormack, Adrian Malloch, Andrew MacDonald, Cameron James McLaren, Becki Moss, Vanessa Parker, Ralph Piezas, Mike Scott, Erica Sinclair, Scott Sinton, Aaron Smale, Maine Tito, Dominico Zapata and Julie Zhu.
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.
A permaculture haven in a farm desert.
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