Shipwrecks – a natural history
Beneath the waves, all shipwrecks have one thing in common—they become home for a variety of marine creatures and in this way each ship lives again. We compare three of New Zealand’s shipwrecks as we study the natural history of the processes involved in the transformation of these artificial reefs—the Moana, near Dunedin, the Taupo in The Bay of Plenty and the Rainbow Warrior in the Bay of Islands.
French saboteurs brought the Rainbow Warriors campaigning days to an abrupt conclusion.
However, submerged in a sheltered bay in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands, it has started a new life. The ocean is bringing about a remarkable metamorphosis. The warrior is growing a new living skin.
This 30 minute programme is a natural history of the processes involved in the transformation of the Warrior and of two other New Zealand shipwrecks. By comparing the Warrior with the wreck of the ‘Taupo’ in the Bay of Plenty and of the ‘Moana’ in the entrance to Otago Harbour, we see how each shipwreck can develop its own unique character.
