Dancing with Hookers in New Zealand

Although I’d been told roughly where the Hooker Sea Lion's haul out, I was doubtful I’d see one; they are quite uncommon.  The beach I’d been directed to was long, isolated and ran parallel to a sand dune complex.  At the headland I’d already photographed a few New Zealand fur seals and a couple of sooty oystercatchers; which were doing their utmost to hunker down within the loose sand to minimise the effects of a strong sea breeze that had been blowing for most of the afternoon. 

LEFT: A male Hooker Sea Lion.  The head of a hooker looks completely different to others sea lions.

Looking farther along the beach from the headland I could see something that looked quite large and dark.  Initially I thought it was a New Zealand fur seal, but this seal seemed too large for a fur seal.  Hiking along the low tide mark, I was amazed to come across a massive animal in half moult with a face that looked less like a seal but more like something else – but what!    I knew hookers can be quite large, especially the males, but this animal must have weighed in at close to 150 kilograms (around 300 pound).  This did not in anyway look like the benign fur seals and California sea lions I was used to viewing.

LEFT:  Sleeping male Hooker Sea Lion  on an isolated in New Zealand.

At first I was wary of aapproaching close to this behemoth as I knew looks can be deceiving; my past experience with seals had taught me that although they looked cumbersome, seals and sea lions are capable of very fast, yet short-lived turns of speed.  But this old fellow seemed content to just lie on the beach in what appeared to a deep sleep – although I knew he wasn’t sleeping, as every now and again he would yawn, or open an eye to dutifully watch that I maintained a reasonable distance. 

The jaws of the hooker looked formidable; large sharp teeth protruded from an exceptionally cavernous mouth.  A small armada of flies swarmed around his jaws as he opened and closed them; I wasn’t close enough to smell his breath, but I can only imagine. 

 LEFT:  A female Hooker Sea Lion walks to ward the male after exiting the ocean.  The differences between male and females is very distinctive.

Rebecca and I spent probably close to 45 minutes with the sea lion and were about to depart when we noticed another seal aapproaching from further down the beach.  It soon was apparent that this was a female, and like all males his half sleep instantly evaporated as he sprang to life making himself look tall as he watched the female exit the surf and make her way towards him.   After what appeared to be some affectionate nose touching and snorting, the two then about faced and marched off toward the surf to take to the sea.

LEFT:  A male Hooker Sea Lion sleeps in the sand dunes.  Hokers cover themselves in sand to regulate ambient temperatures; the sand stops them getting sunburnt too!

HOOKER SEA LION FACTS

• SIZE: Male length 2 - 2.35 meters (6.5 - 7.7 feet)
• SIZE: Female length 1.6 - 2 meters (5.2 - 6.5 feet)
• WEIGHT: Male 300 - 450 kilograms (660 - 990 pound)
• WEIGHT: Female up to 160 kilograms (352 pounds)
• SEXUAL MATURITY: 3 -4 years with males breeding after 8 years
• LIFE EXPECTANCY: 18 - 23 years (females/males)
• CONSERVATION STATUS: Threatened (New Zealand marine Mammal Protection Act.  Classified as vulnerable by IUCN Red List 2007

The Hooker's sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) also known as the New Zealand Sea Lion, is one of the World's rarest and most endangered sea lions.  They were extensively hunted for their hide and oil until hunting was banned in New Zealand in 1893.  Today, the sea lion has been designated as a Threatened Species under New Zealand's Marine Mammals Protection Act and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. 

BREEDING & FEEDING

Hooker Sea Lions breed almost exclusively on New Zealand's sub antarctic islands and haul out at a number of locations between Macquarie Island and the South Island of New Zealand.  Their favoured haul out areas are sandy beaches, and often individuals can be found resting in depressions within sand dune complexes up to 2 kilometres inland.

Hooker Sea Lions are opportunistic feeders with a main diet of cephalopods, crabs, crayfish, and fish, however, fur seals and penguins have  also been documented as prey.  Similar to elephant seals they are excellent divers and sea lions often reach depths between 300 and 600 meters. 

THREATS & CONSERVATION

The total world population of hookers was estimated to be between 12000 and 14000 individuals; however, in 1998 a mass mortality event occurred which drastically reduced their numbers.  The reason for the mortality event is unknown, but it highlights the risk faced by a species that only breed at a few site worldwide.

If a problem were to occur at any particular site, such as introduction of a disease or another mass mortality event, then the loss of one breeding site would be cataclysmic with regard to species recruitment.

A more insidious threat to the sea lion is the fishing industries use of trawl nets to catch squid .  Often Hooker Sea Lions will become entangled in the nets and drown as both the fishing fleet and the sea lions are targeting the same prey – squid. This said, the fishing industry is cognisant of the bi-catch problem and has introduced capture-release devices to many of their nets resulting in less sea lion deaths.

Yellow-eyed Penguins - New Zealand

The Yellow-eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes), named the “Hoihi” by the indigenous Maoris, only lives in New Zealand and is one of the rarest penguins in the world with a total population of about 4000-5000 individuals of which 1200 to 1600 are breeding. About one-quarter of these live on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand and Stewart Island. Most of them live on Campbell and Auckland Islands, about 600 km to the south in the sub-Antarctica.

NATURAL HISTORY

The Yellow-eyed Penguin is the largest penguin found in the temperate zone and is roughly 70 centimetres in height and weighs around 5 kilograms.  The penguins gain their name from the distinctive golden feathers which form a crown along their head and a bright yellow stripe that runs to the eye and around the back of the head.  Non breeding individuals lack this ornamentation.

Yellow-eyed penguins spend most of the daylight hours up to 20 miles from shore feeding on opal fish, silverside, sprat, red cod, and arrow squid at depths to 400 feet.  As such, they are excellent underwater swimmers and are adapted to holding their breath for up to four minutes.

LEFT: Classic image of a Yellow-eyes Penguin standing above thre dune foreshore scouting quickly for predators before turning and making its way to its nest and chick.

Their usual habitat is dense, cool coastal forests which afford the penguin shade during the day, shelter from the elements and protection from aerial predators.  Where forest is not available (due to farming practices and land clearing in New Zealand) flax and tufted grass areas are chosen amongst sand dunes.  Colonies and individual nets are scattered affairs and it’s not unknown for yellow eyes to trek up to a mile inland to their nesting site.  Unlike other penguins, who in the breeding season may stay on land during the day, yellow-eyed penguins spend the day at sea feeding before coming ashore at early evening to walk to their nesting site (except in the pre egg and moulting time).

LEFT: Yellow-eyed Penguin enters foreshore vegetation on the way to its nesting site.

YELLOW-EYED PENGUIN CONSERVATION

Because of its threatened species status, the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust was established in 1987 to help conserve the penguin by protecting vital penguin habitat.  As part of the trust’s activities, farming areas were set aside and artificial nesting containers created in the hope of increasing the numbers of penguins.  Visitors to New Zealand are encouraged to visit areas that have breeding boxes established to observe and learn about the penguin.  Seeing a yellow-eyed penguin in semi-controlled environment is relatively easy and areas set aside like this provide an ideal platform to educate the public in penguin conservation.  However, my goal was to photograph the penguin in the wild; I particularly wanted photographs of the penguin coming ashore.

ABOVE:  Yellow-eyed Penguin storms the beach after a day feeding at sea.

To assist in locating and photographing the penguins I engaged the services of a local penguin guide from Back 2 Nature Tours.  Chris, the owner was a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide who was more than willing to try and help us photograph the penguins without disturbing them.

PHOTOGRAPHING THE PENGUINS & PENGUIN ETIQUETTE

Whenever I photograph wildlife, it’s important to understand the habits of your target animal so as to avoid causing undue stress on the animal.  This is particularly important with regard to the yellow-eyed penguin as disturbance is one of the major concerns with regard to the conservation of this species. 

Unlike other penguin species, the yellow eye is very highly strung and will easily jump at its own shadow!  It isn’t a sociable animal and they shy well away from humans, and even prefer to nest out of sight of their own kind.  This is a prime concern when photographing these penguins in the wild, for if the penguin sees you, often they will abort their shore landing.

As you can imagine, photographing this penguin species is not an easy task!  I soon learnt that it’s very difficult not to be seen by this penguin; their eyesight is phenomenal – getting close enough to obtain a decent photograph is tantalizingly difficult.  You will need a good telephoto lens and some type of camouflage to break up your body silhouette.  I spent about an hour lying in the sand waiting for the penguins to make their appearance.  I’m quite sure that to a passer by I may have looked like a military sniper a target rifle!

LEFT:  Part way up the beach, a Yellow-eyed Penguin pauses to llook for potential predators.

If you don’t have a hide established, or if your walking along the beach and observe the penguins coming ashore, it’s very important that you DO NOT stand up, but lower your body as close to the ground as possible to reduce your footprint.  Remember that these birds are very shy and easily scared – if you scare them and they decide not to land, then the chick will go hungry that evening.  Always give the penguin right of way!  If you see a penguin landing, stop, lower yourself to the ground, and wait for it to make its way to the dunes before resuming your activity.

As dusk approaches, the penguins begin to come ashore.  Unlike Blue Penguins that often come ashore in rafts of 10 to 20, the yellow eye storms the beaches either signally or in pairs.  Initially you will see them swimming about just past the breakers, as they scrutinise the shore searching for possible predators.  If they see you, they will not land!  Once they believe it’s safe, they will slowly make their way through the breakers to the beach.  Once they have reached the beach, they are still very mindful of anything in their vicinity, so it’s paramount that you keep hidden and do not move about unnecessarily.  Once the penguins have determined that the area is safe, they will slowly walk up the beach, into the dunes and eventually to their nests.  It’s very important that you do not follow them to their nest sites as this will stress the penguin and the chick (s).  Be content with watching the landing and observing the penguins as they make their way across the beach to the foreshore and dunes.

ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR CAMERA

An odd title I know as you would think a photographer would err always have his camera with him - well not so!  I was with Chris from Back to Nature Tours doing a recognisance of the area Rebecca and I were going to shot the following morning.  Rebecca and I had already scaled a rather steep dune to the beach twice that day, so Rebecca opted to spend her time around the upper sections of the cliff looking about while Chris and I ran down to the beach for him to point out respective penguin access trails to me.  I left my camera in the car to save the weight - BAD MOVE.  As Chris and I rounded a corner on the dune, there was a yellow-eyed penguin half way up the dune.  The wind was blowing and the sand was being blown about the penguin's feet.  As Chris and I sat down, I wasn't that "pissed off" about not having my camera as the light was rather dull, although the penguin was close enough to get a full frame shot with a Canon 1 D MK3-S with a 70-200 lens.  What did really BUG ME major time was when the clouds parted and ray of golden light struck the penguin!!   I kid you not - this was the shot and where was my camera - IN THE CAR!   Was I annoyed - YES.  Am I still annoyed - YES.  Will I do this again - NO.   Message to be learnt, always carry your gear even on a recognisance outing and NEVER leave it in the car.

It was unfortunate that I only had a few days to search for the penguins.  I think with a longer time period far superior images can be aquired with patience, skill, and luck!

If your interested in yellow-eyed penguins, navigate to these links for further information.

• Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust New Zealand
• Back to Nature Wildlife Tours (guiding & advice)

Tasmanian Seabirds Field Trip - Albatross; Post 2

After establishing base camp it was time to explore our new home.  As already mentioned, the whole island is made from “roughly” fist sized pieces of conglomerate (assorted rocks of differing types) cemented together to form rock.  The rock doesn’t erode easily, and soil when present is a thin veneer.  As such, vegetation is very sparse with grasses growing in soil areas and pink face succulent covering much of the remaining areas.  Temperate lichens grow on much of the exposed rock.  There are no trees or shrubs.  The island has two sea caves formed during the last ice age when sea levels were higher; these caves are separated by a gulch which has formed from the sea and wind erosion of the conglomerate.

LEFT: Shy Albatross sits on nest above precipitous cliff.

The island is primarily home to Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta), Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur), Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) and Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris), although we did observe several other species on the island including Sea Eagles, Little Ravens, Welcome Swallows, Australasian Gannets and introduced Starlings. 

LEFT:  Male and Female Shy Albatross "beak clack" and  lean into each other when reuniting after a day at sea.

The Shy Albatross use a number of breeding rookeries at the highest point on the island adjacent to steep cliffs.  Every day, Rebecca and I would traverse a narrow ledge that lead its way from the sea cave to the top of the island, to observe the albatross at the rookeries.  The shys are one of the larger species in the albatross family and have an incredible wingspan of ~256 cm (~101 inches) and weigh approximately 4.4 kilograms (9.7 pounds).  To see these beautiful birds at close quarters is a tantalising experience and you realize their immense size when seen in association with smaller gannets and ravens. 

LEFT: Shy Albatross feeds chick a diet of Arrow Squid caught at sea.  Feeding time is usually in the early evening.  Both the female and the male parent share in flying to sea to find food for the fast-growing youngster.  Food is always regurgitated after furious squawking and beak tapping from the baby.

The breeding season was well developed by January and although many youngsters had fledged, many were still on their nests waiting to be fed a diet a squid, captured at sea by both the male and female parents.  It was interesting to observe that the nests of the shy are comprised of soil and bone which is held together by the bird’s regurgitation (cement).  Despite the lack of initial breeding courtship display, it was fascinating to observe how either the male or female bird when returning to the nest would initiate a quick and furious beak clacking ritual to renegotiate the bond that these birds have with each other (for the most part albatross are monogamous and breed with the same partner for life) .

Shys (and many other seabirds) inhabit offshore islands for a reason, other than solitude and lack of terrestrial predators – WIND.  Large seabirds need wind and/or steep cliffs to launch themselves airborne.  In the time we were on the island, the wind didn’t cease blowing once – and the birds loved it.  Every morning and evening (and during the day to some extent) the birds would glide and ride the updrafts, thermals and wind breaks.  Often they would swoop so close to us you  could hear the wind noise as their large wings cut through the 

air.

Of vital importance (to Rebecca and myself) was the ongoing safety and health of the shys.  Albatross chicks rely very much on their parents for survival.  They derive their nourishment including water from the supply of squid fed to them; the chicks do not drink.  If an albatross chick is approached too closely it will regurgitate its stomach in an attempt to scare you (you’re an unknown predator to them). 

LEFT:  Shy Albatross glides graciously on updrafts.  The wind span of these birds is immense and it's easy to understand that alabtross are made for flying.

This regurgitation can dehydrate a chick to the point of death, especially if daytime temperatures are severe.  Further, the heart rate of the Shy Albatross can increase dramatically when a person approaches too close, although this is not evident in the bird’s behaviour. Therefore, we used 500, 400 and 300mm lenses for the most part to maintain a safe distance from the parents and chicks.  On occasions when the birds were flying close to us, we used 70-200mm zoom lenses with a 1.4 tele extender.

LEFT:  Wings raised ready for take off, the albatross is one of the most magestic birds of the animal kingdom.

More to follow soon on this amazing trip.

Shy Albatross HD video to follow soon.....

Tasmanian Seabirds Field Trip - Albatross; Post 1

This is the first segment of a series of posts to document a recent trip I conducted with  another photoghrapher to a small uninhabited and remote island in Bass Strait off the coast Tasmania.

The purpose of our visit was to photograph the seabirds on the island; in particular the Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta), Fairy Penguin (Eudyptula minor) and Southern Prion (Pachyptila turtur). 

 LEFT: Succulent & lichen covered rocks.  Two albatross can be seen in the sky.

The island is remote, not frequently visited, has no infrastructure and is out of communication range except when using high frequency radio or satellite phone.  We had to be totally self sufficient for the time spent on the island, therefore, considerable effort went into logistical preparation for the one-week camping trip.  In addition, extra water and food supplies were required to be taken, in case we became stranded on the island because of the unstable local weather patterns, which frequently cause sea conditions to be such that pick up via boat is not possible.  Everything that was needed for the trip, including medical and emergency items,

had to be transferred from the mainland to the island via a 35 foot shark cat.

POOR WEATHER CONDITIONS

As it was, the jumping off date was cancelled due to large swells and 50-knot winds, however, on the following day a lull had developed between frontal systems.  Our skipper decided that today was the day and we made a dash for the lee of the island navigating through 3-meter ocean-going seas.  As we approached the island, we made our first observations of shy albatross; the birds were completely at home in the rough and windy conditions as they skirted on the crests of large swells.

To transfer the gear from the boat to the island was in itself out of the ordinary.  The boat’s skipper had to position the shark cat in such a way that the bow rail was adjacent to a rocky outcrop.  Then the equipment was passed quickly across the bow rail to a person on the rock – this was done to the symphony of the swell and several runs were made until all our equipment was disgorged onto the rock. 

LEFT: Lowering equipment from the ridge to the mouth of the sea cave via rope and shackles.

LUGGING GEAR OVERLAND/ISLAND

The fun part then began as we had to man/woman handle everything to the top of a hill over relatively unstable rocks, along a small ridge, and then lower the gear via a rope to the entrance of a sea cave.  Now, this may sound like an easy operation, but imagine “lugging” several 20-kilogram jerry cans of water, a battery for recharge purposes, tent, cooking equipment and food – not too mention 3 pelican cases of camera and video equipment!  To complete this seemingly easy task involved a number of trips from the cave to the dropping off point and took 4 hours!  Add to this the fact, although wearing copious amounts of sunburnt cream, the high UV still managed to eat through the cream causing us to get sunburnt and more dehydrated than normal. 

BASE CAMP AT MOUTH OF SEA CAVE

It was in this sea cave (at the far entrance) that we established a base camp.  

LEFT: Shark Cat showing rocks that equipment was unloaded.

At first we thought it would be best to actually camp in the sea cave (as sealers had done 200 years earlier during the height of the Tasmanian seal industry), however, several reasons for not doing this were evident.  Nearly every accessible portion of this small rocky island was covered in seabirds, nesting sites and burrows; the remainder was solid rock (for the geologists the rock was Owen conglomerate deposited around the Ordovician period).  The other  reason for utilising the cave was the weather - not so much the rain, but more the gale force winds that regularly buffet this part of the coast.  Despite having an exceptionally well constructed tent, I wasn’t pleased at the thought of being blown off into the southern ocean.   The third reason was we noting several rather large boulders that had already fallen from the cave’s ceiling - and we didn't fancy having sleeping with one!   

LEFT: Base camp at the mouth of the cave.

LITTLE RESPITE FROM WIND, SALT & DUST

Although the cave entrance did provide some respite from severe wind and rain, it offered little respite from humidity, sea salt and dust; within a few days all the gear was covered in dirt and our clothing was mattered with salt and grunge.  My jacket at the beginning of the trip was relatively new and at the week’s completion the jacket reminded me of a unwashed World War Two combat smock that had been worn and used in several battles!

More to follow soon.......

UPDATE - Tasmania Offshore Islands & New Zealand

I've just returned from a 8 day field trip to a small island off Tasmania, where I photographed albatross, penguins and other seabirds.  This was immediately followed by two weeks in New Zealand where I photographed more albatross and penguins, fur seals and sealions.

Over the next week or so I will post a series of posts regarding both trips and the wildlife encountered.