New Marine Reserves: Protecting Paradise
Three new marine reserves finally safeguard the ocean wonderland of our subantarctic islands. The new subantarctic island marine reserves will help protect Southern Ocean birds like the royal albatross, one of 216 species on the islands.
There's no signpost to say you're nearing New Zealand's subantarctic islands, but a welcome that's a little more dramatic. One of the first beacons of this pristine but harsh ecological paradise is one of its most majestic residents: the albatross.
Watching the world's largest seabird swoop around the boat, scientists like the Department of Conservation's Dr Debbie Freeman know a wonderland lies just over the horizon.
Millions of seabirds make their home on these storm-tossed islands in the Southern Ocean - more than in all of Europe.
Combine them - the Auckland Islands, the Bounty Islands, the Antipodes Islands, the Snares and Campbell Island - and you have a line-up of some of the planet's rarest and most intriguing bird species.
There's the world's largest albatross, its rarest duck, and also its rarest cormorant. Also among 216 different species of bird are erect-crested penguins, Salvins mollymawks, several species of albatross and a type of parakeet known to feast on meat.
And that's just the birdlife. A typically curious southern right whale might pop up alongside the boat, and visitors may also encounter the world's rarest sea lion and megaherbs, justly named for their huge leaves and oddly-coloured flowers.