Home/Posts Tagged ‘New Zealand’
Posts Tagged ‘New Zealand’
Animals, Videos & Documentaries, Jan 9th, 2012,
A killer whale (orca) was caught on film hunting sharks at a New Zealand beach. One sizable shark was driven onto the sand by the orca, where a local dog began circling and barking at it. The story has been reported by several news agencies, using the amateur footage, but leave it to ITN News to include the best bits – particularly the part with the dog. Killer whales are intelligent, skilled hunters and sit at the top of the marine food chain. According to this older video report from National Geographic and ABC News, they sometimes even hunt the…
Tags: beach, dog, killer whale, New Zealand, orca, shark
Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Dec 16th, 2011,
We’ve got two silly animal videos today, courtesy of ITN (and neither are about those gay penguins who recently ‘broke up’). First there are the waving bears of the Olympic Game Farm in Washington State, US. These retired Hollywood film bears (read: slave animals) are tame Kodiak bears who, when waved at by gawking tourists, politely wave back. Bit of a gimmick, but at least they no longer have to take orders from Steven Spielberg and can instead lie around waving at caravans of naked apes. Check out the video here: So… from a bit of news about animals who…
Tags: bear, couch, Kodiak, New Zealand, Olympic Game Farm, seal, Washington, waving
Conservation, Wildlife & Flora, Nov 17th, 2011,
Not long after a neighborhood in Miami, Florida was invaded by giant African snails, New Zealand has suffered a massive loss in their own native population of giant snails. While Miami’s interloping giant snails are considered a nuisance due to their tendency to eat houses and leave grody giant snail trails around the place, New Zealand’s giant land snails are considered an endangered species. Because of the giant land snail’s endangered status, 6,000 of them – the entire population of the species, according to an article in the Independent – were moved from the sight of a future coalmine on…
Tags: African, coalmine, giant, Land, Miami, New Zealand, snail
Pollution, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 14th, 2011,
Containment and clean up of what has been termed New Zealand’s ‘worst ever environmental disaster’ are on their way in the Bay of Plenty after a Liberian cargo ship ran aground on a coral reef and began leaking fuel oil late last week. So far 350 tons of oil have leaked into the bay, damaging wildlife and washing up on area beaches. A salvage crew has been working aboard the ship, the Rena, making slow progress. Meanwhile, a group of some 2,000 volunteers has been cleaning toxic oil from affected beaches. Read the latest in the New Zealand Herald. For…
Tags: beaches, coral, New Zealand, oil spill, reef, ship, wildlife
Pollution, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 10th, 2011,
Oil leaking from the stranded container ship off New Zealand’s coast has washed up on local beaches and could continue polluting for weeks, according to authorities. Beautiful Mt Maunganui Beach in Tauranga has been hit with “tar balls”, aka toxic blobs of oil, prompting authorities to issue a public warning to stay away from the stricken beach. So far some 10-50 tons of oil are estimated to have leaked from the Liberian container ship, the Rena, since it hit Astrolabe Reef, near the city of Tauranga on Wednesday, poisoning local wildlife. Weather conditions this week are predicted to hamper rescue…
Tags: beach, leak, Maunganui, New Zealand, oil, ship, spill, tauranga
Pollution, Oct 7th, 2011,
A large container ship is stranded on a reef off the coast of New Zealand and is leaking oil. The ship, named the Rena, ran aground on Astrolabe Reef near the city of Tauranga on Wednesday, causing a 5km (3mi) long oil slick to leak into the Bay of Plenty. So far 4 sea birds have been found dead in the slick, while 4 blue penguins and 2 shags have been rescued by New Zealand Wildlife Response. From the New Zealand Herald: The Rena was carrying about 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and about 70 tonnes of marine diesel…
Tags: Astrolabe Reef, blue penguin, leak, New Zealand, oil, Rena, ship
Conservation, Wildlife & Flora, Aug 9th, 2011,
Sea lion populations have declined in New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands by 40% between 1998 and 2009. The islands are one of only two breeding locations for sea lions in New Zealand. The other location, Campbell Island, saw a gradual increase of pups during that same period. Reasons for the Auckland decline may be partly environmental, but research from New Zealand’s University of Otago suggests that the main culprit is the local squid fishing industry. From Science Alert: Researchers noted that the Auckland Islands has a strong squid fishing industry within range of the sea lions, where as Campbell Island…
Tags: australia, California, fishery, fishing, Marine Mammal Center, New Zealand, sea lions, squid
Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Sep 24th, 2010,
A pod of around 80 pilot whales stranded itself on a New Zealand beach earlier this week. The whales were spotted Wednesday morning on a beach at Spirits Bay on New Zealand’s North Island. Dozens died before a rescue effort successfully moved 24 of the whales to another beach some 50km south for release. An additional three died during the relocation effort according to an AAP report. Now at Rarawa Beach, the surviving whales will be released tonight and herded in the right direction by boats. From a Press Association report: On Thursday, volunteers moved the 24 surviving members of…
Tags: beach, New Zealand, pilot, pod, rescue, Spirits Bay, stranded, whales
Health, Nature, Science & Technology, Sep 6th, 2010,
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit New Zealand on Saturday. The quake was centered near Christchurch, one of the largest cities on the island nation. At least 500 buildings were damaged or destroyed, roads were cracked, and surprisingly only 2 serious injuries were reported. Oh, and there’s one other thing. It’s possible the earthquake created a new fault line. Geology professor of Canterbury University, Mark Quiqley, explained: “One side of the earth has lurched to the right … up to 11 feet (3.5 m) and in some places been thrust up.” … “The long, linear fracture on the Earth’s surface does…
Tags: 7.1 earthquake, Christchurch, damage, new fault line, New Zealand, quake
Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Aug 22nd, 2010,
According to a report in the Independent, at least 11 of the 58 whales that beached themselves on Karikari Beach in Northern New Zealand on Thursday night have been successfully refloated. The reports differ about the number of saved pilot whales – the Associated Press reports that only 9 survived and 4 were euthanized: The survivors had headed out to sea Saturday afternoon and were monitored to ensure they did not return to the beach, Conservation Department spokeswoman Carolyn Smith said. But within an hour four of them became stranded again, Smith said. Furthermore, the estimated total number of deaths…
Tags: beach, beaching, Karikari, New Zealand, pilot, refloated, rescue, video, whales
Conservation, Wildlife & Flora, Aug 20th, 2010,
Rescue volunteers in New Zealand are attempting to save 15 pilot whales that washed up on the remote Karikari Beach on the northern tip of the country’s North Island. A total of 73 whales were stranded and so far 58 of them have died. A member of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation stated that the pilot whales probably beached themselves at night, which delayed their discovery and the rescue effort. From an Associated Press report: New Zealand frequently sees several mass whale strandings around its coastline, mainly each summer as whales pass by on their migration to and from Antarctic…
Tags: beach, beached, Conservation, Department, New Zealand, pilot, stranded, stranding, volunteers, whales
Green living, Nature, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, May 30th, 2010,
School is ending, summer is rearing it’s blistering hot head, and the vacation season is upon us. Will you take to the beach again this year, or perhaps go camping in the mountains? Have you been eyeing one of those Caribbean cruises or thinking of trudging through an over-crowded amusement park? While some destinations may offer green hospitality or eco-friendly activities here and there, much of the world has yet to catch up with eco-tourism. However, some places have definitely gone above and beyond the call and are worth mentioning in this list. Check them out: 10. Norway First, we…
Tags: adventure, Alaska, australia, biodiversity, borneo, California, Costa Rica, eco accommodations, eco destinations, eco lodging, eco vacations, eco-tours, ecotourism, expedition, Galapagos Islands, Green, journey, Kenya, Nature, New Zealand, Norway, sustainable, The Amazon, top 10 list, travel
Nature, Politics, Wildlife & Flora, May 29th, 2010,
As the IWC meeting in Morocco approaches and an anti-whaling activist faces trial in Japan, the Australian government made a bold move yesterday by announcing plans to take legal action against Japanese whaling—starting next week. It has long been known that Australia does not support whaling, especially when it happens in the nearby Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Their New Zealand neighbors are also against these violent activities and are also considering opening a case against Japan, as well. The Japanese conduct “lethal research” through a loophole in a 1986 moratorium. However, they do not hide the fact that most of…
Tags: announcement, australia, ICJ, International Court of Justice, IWC, japan, Japanese Whaling, legal action, New Zealand, Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Apr 11th, 2010,
One third of greenhouse gasses in New Zealand come from livestock, according to the below report from CNN Eco Solutions. Home to just 4 million people, New Zealand has 38 million sheep 9 million cows, which fuel large export industries in dairy, meat and wool. These animals produce vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times stronger than CO2. Scientists in New Zealand are attempting to produce a vaccine that inhibits the microscopic methanogens that live inside the stomachs of sheep and cows from producing methane. CNN – Tackling belching cows Vaccinating the world’s cow population is one approach…
Tags: CNN, cows, dairy, emissions, gas, greenhouse, livestock, meat, methane, New Zealand, sheep
Climate Change, Feb 28th, 2010,
In less than 24 hours, a good portion of the globe has been hit with a number of natural disasters. Unfortunately for them, the worst of it hasn’t even happened yet. Yesterday, Chile was hit by an 8.8 earthquake—one of the worst ever recorded. Homes, highways and bridges were torn apart and at least 214 people have been found dead so far. To make matters worse, that isn’t even the full extent of the damage and the death toll will most likely rise. A 15-story building in Concepcion (Chile’s second largest city) collapsed. The nation’s capital, Santiago, saw damage to…
Tags: Asia, Chile, Climate change, crazy weather, earthquake, flooding, global warming, Haiti, Hawaii, natural disasters, New Zealand, tsunami, weather
Nature, Science & Technology, Wildlife & Flora, Feb 4th, 2010,
Last week it was reported that a group of researchers intended to investigate the Japanese whaling in the Antarctic seas. In particular, they wanted to see if the whales could be studied without killing them; which could be viewed as a challenge to Japan, since they claim they have to hunt and kill hundreds of whales per year, all for the sake of “scientific research”. The researchers deployed from Wellington, New Zealand on Tuesday. Nearly 20 scientists from Australia, France and New Zealand are part of the 6 week expedition, where they will study the whales, their food, and how…
Tags: 6 week expedition, Antarctica, Japanese whale hunting, New Zealand, non-lethal whale research, Ross Sea, scientists, whale research
Wildlife & Flora, ,
When it comes to survival of the fittest, age does not matter. If an animal views you as food or a threat, they will attack. A teenage girl from New Zealand recently found this out the hard way. Lydia Ward narrowly escaped death this past week. A shark attacked her while she was in waist-deep water at Oreti Beach. Apparently, she thought she was standing on the shark before it attacked. The shark jumped out of the water and took a bite of her hip. Luckily, the young girl had a body board with her and used it to bash…
Tags: body board, broad-nosed sevengill shark, New Zealand, Oreti Beach, shark attack, teen
Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Feb 1st, 2010,
Earlier this month, there was an incident involving the Ady Gil vessel (of the Sea Shepherd fleet) and the Shonan Maru No. 2 (which is with the Japanese whalers). To make a long explanation very short, the Shonan Maru No. 2 rammed the Ady Gil, causing irreparable damage to the vessel and now the Ady Gil is somewhere on the ocean floor. Both sides blame each other for the crash and some form of official intervention is needed. Now that we are more or less up to speed on things, here is where the update on matters begins. Recently, the…
Tags: Ady Gil, Antarctica, australia, investigation, Japanese Whaling, New Zealand, scientific expedition, Sea Shepherd, Shonan Maru No. 2, Whale Wars
Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Jan 24th, 2010,
This past weekend, New Zealand saw its third major whale stranding this season. On Saturday, 48 Pilot Whales were found stranded on South Island at Port Levy. Thanks to a vast amount of help from the Department of Conservation and numerous volunteers, 33 of the stranded whales were able to be coaxed back into the water and saved. Unfortunately, the other 15 didn’t make it and joined the other 125 beached whales that died earlier in the season. According to the Department of Conservation’s community relations manager, Grant Campbell: “It’s a very, very shallow bay in Port Levy, very muddy,…
Tags: beached, Department of Conservation, dolphins, New Zealand, pilot whales, Port Levy, South Island, stranded, volunteers
Nature, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Dec 28th, 2009,
According to an AFP story, 105 pilot whales died after being stranded on a beach near the town of Nelson on the South Island of New Zealand on Saturday. A further 21 whales beached and died on Sunday on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Local volunteers and tourists were able to get 42 whales back into the sea, where one promptly gave birth to a calf, giving the tragic story a silver lining. ‘Last they were seen, they were swimming healthily out to the ocean’, regional conservation spokeswoman Lyn Williams said. –AFP/ABC News (Australia) For more on…
Tags: AFP, beach, beached, die, New Zealand, pilot, whales
