Marine Ecology

Students with professor Jody Weir

It was a pleasure to have local Jody Weir as the instructor of our marine ecology course titled "Conservation and Behavioural Ecology of New Zealand Marine Species." Jody is a Canadian who has called Kaikoura home for several years. Her research interest is in mammalian development, ranging from that of dusky dolphins here in Kaikoura, to lemurs in the heart of the Maromizaha Forest, Madagascar. She has recently been dedicating much of her time to starting up an organization called the Kaikoura Ocean Research Institute and doing research on the population of the endangered Hector's dolphin. Jody is a big supporter of conservation projects involving and drawing from community support. What's one thing you can expect to hear Jody say? "Everyone has an important role to play in conservation!" 

Our first day of class focused on marine invertebrates and fishes. In the afternoon, we went tidepooling out on the Kaikoura Peninsula. We scoured the seaweed and rock pools for tiny marine treasures. Among them were anemones, sea stars, nudibranchs, and even the teeniest baby octopus!

"I had so much fun at the tidepools, and I felt it was a really effective way for us to put our learning into action by doing hands-on identifying." –Jenna, Wheaton College

Tidepooling on the Kaikoura Peninsula

Day two, we focused on marine birds. Ornithologist Lindsay Rowe, involved with research on our local Hutton's shearwaters and little blue penguins. He told us all about the work that he has done to protect the shearwaters along with other researchers, supporters, and community members. It was inspiring to hear about how everyone's hard work has made a difference in saving this special marine bird.

On a more global scale, we talked about how plastic pollution is affecting bird life, specifically the albatross living on Midway Atoll. Many chicks are dying after being fed plastic by their parents. With a seemingly full belly of materials that can't be digested, the birds are dying of starvation. There is six times the amount of plastic particles than phytoplankton in water samples taken out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Yes, even on the most isolated of places in the middle of the ocean feels the pressure of the human handprint on the earth.  It seems impossible to me to hear that without walking away with a new realization of the scope of our human impact on the creatures we share this planet with.

To learn more about the problem from photographer Chris Jordan, check out this PopTech talk:
Chris Jordan: Polluting Plastics

This heart-wrenching tale is beautifully captured in the trailer from yet-to-be-released documentary Midway:
Midway Film Trailer

"I was made keenly aware of the damage that plastic does to marine life. It was devastating to see the birds with plastic bottle caps inside of them and all sorts of plastic products. I know the importance of recycling plastic but just an awareness of the need to reduce my plastic intake was made apparent to me. Once again, the quality of life for people and animals is so intricately connected through the complexity of the ecosystems that we live in and are apart of whether we recognize it or not."–Monica, Messiah College

We topped off the evening with a visit to the Coastguard building for a special program called the PEAP (Penguin Education and Awareness Program). The aim of the program is to give locals and visitors a ‘peap’ into the lives of the little penguins living in Kaikoura. After an introduction to the lives of these penguins, we headed downstairs to take a look at their nest boxes and hopefully catch a glimpse of the real these curiously blue aquatic birds. Sure enough, we were delighted to be presented with a number of face-to-face encounters. Alastair and Lindsay were able to show us two chicks and two adults as they went about their research business. Surely not your average night of class!

"Marine Animals are an awesome creation of God! Dolphin Encounter was one of the coolest things I've ever done.  It was awesome to learn about an animal and then have the opportunity to interact with it too!  PEAP was a worthwhile program to check out.  Seeing baby penguins was a bonus." –Kelsey, Messiah College

Day three we focused on seals and sea lions, taking time in the morning to visit the NZ fur seal nursery and colony at Ohau. DOC worker Brett Cowan also gave a talk about seal conservation in Kaikoura.

Day three, we learned about and conducted field observations of the NZ fur seal.

Thursday was dolphin day! We kicked it off with a trip out with Dolphin Encounter. We were able to meet and interact with the dusky dolphins while paddling around the chilly water. The air was filled with the comedic chorus of students trying to auditorily captivate our finned friends. Jody also shared about her dusky dolphin and Hector's dolphin research with us.

We couldn't have had better conditions for our Dolphin Encounter trip!

This trip was a highlight of the week for everyone!

Our group out on Dolphin Encounter

Day five was dedicated to the wonderful world of whales. We started with a hike to Ota Matu, a great place to conduct shore-based whale observations. In the evening, guest speaker Ophélie Sagnol talked to us about her shore-based sperm whale research (chapter 2). With Kaikoura's reputation as a marine mammal Mecca largely due to the sperm whales so easily seen offshore, this was a big help for us in better understanding this place we call home.

Our group at Ota Matu.

Friday night we had a poster fair where each student chose a marine organism in Kaikoura to research and share about. The students put a lot of creative effort into their posters! CCSP staff and some invited guests acted as judges during the poster fair. It was a great way to end the week and reflect on what we've learned about the abundant marine life in Kaikoura.

Just a glimpse into the poster fair on Friday evening

 Everyone wanted to try on Jake's (Messiah) life-size albatross wings that accompanied his poster! 

This quote from student Emma Childs effectively summarizes the impact that this week has had on the students this semester:
 

"I so very often forget that my waste patterns, my consumption and my frequent inattentiveness to my footprint on the Earth affects not only the land I see below my feet, but the entire vast world below the waves. The creatures residing there are equally important to our fragile ecosystems and perhaps more often, lack a voice  because we see them less often (at least, those of us living in a non-coast environment). Out of sight, out of mind. What an attitude Jody inspired me to change. Now there will be a Dusky Dolphin, a masking crab and a royal albatross hovering in my mind when I go to the store and they offer plastic bags. Formerly foreign scientific marine names now have faces and stories to go along with them, for which I am so grateful." –Emma, Berry College