Packing a big breath: David Mullins. Robert Kitchin/Dominion Post

If you think swimming a length of your local pool underwater is a task, then watching David Mullins will take your breath away.

Mild-mannered office worker by day, Mullins will swap his suit for a pair of fins and become the Man from Atlantis at Porirua Aquatic Centre this weekend.

One of the world’s leading freedivers, Mullins, 29, will try to smash two of his national records, before summoning official judges from across the globe for a world record attempt in September.

The disciplines are officially termed dynamic apnoea, with and without fins: basically, swimming as far as you can without taking a breath. And remaining conscious.

“You get disqualified if you black out or can’t converse, otherwise people just go until they conk out,” Mullins said.

Read full article from Stuff.

NOISY BEASTS: Gurnard communicate with each other using distinctive grunts.

By KIRAN CHUG – The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 07/07/2010

Under water grunts, chirps and pops recorded by an Auckland scientist have revealed a mysterious language used by New Zealand fish.

Audio recordings analysed for the first time in New Zealand to find out whether fish talk, will be played to an audience in Wellington today, presented by Auckland University researcher Shahriman Ghazali.

His study began two years ago, when he started listening to recordings taken by colleagues studying ambient noise in the Leigh marine reserve north of Auckland. They made an underwater microphone, with which Mr Ghazali decided to try to establish which sounds were being made by which fish.

“Bigeyes are producing something like a popping sound but they organise them temporarily so it’s like morse code.”

To discover which fish was making each noise, Mr Ghazali brought groups of individual species from the sea to a tank at the laboratory.

Using an easily obtainable hydrophone, or underwater microphone, he continually recorded crayfish to test if there was any basis to the commonly held belief they made sounds when divers approached.

Read full article from Stuff.

Our premiere screening of this Dutch documentary marks the 25th anniversary of the sinking in Auckland harbour by French government agents of the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior. Six members of the original Rainbow Warrior crew eventually settled on Waiheke Island, a location revealed through the lens of filmmaker Suzanne Raes as nothing short of paradise. She films them as they go about their daily lives and investigates the inextricable connections between their life choices and political action. They recount their role in moving 320 Marshall Islanders ravaged by fall-out from US nuclear tests in 1979. They talk of their innocent sense of adventure which shattered when colleague Fernando Pereira died on board the Warrior, a victim of the French action. They reflect on past campaigns and the changing nature of activism. We’re delighted to provide the homecoming venue for this international spotlight on their activism and to join them in commemorating a defining moment in the New Zealand’s anti-nuclear stance. — BG

Now showing at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

Session Times
Saturday 10 July | 1:45pm | SKYCITY Theatre
Monday 12 July | 11:00am | SKYCITY Theatre

Whale sharks, katipo spiders and all giant weta will now be absolutely protected under changes to the Wildlife Act, Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson announced today.

They are among 12 previously unprotected species of invertebrate and a number of marine species, including manta ray, giant groper and corals, which have had their protection status upgraded.

“All native species are special and have evolved key functions in our unique biodiversity, whether they are weevils, weta or beetles they deserve an appropriate level of protection,” Ms Wilkinson says.

“Giant groper, whale sharks and manta ray are all highly valued, particularly by divers, in New Zealand. The upgrade in their protection status, and that of corals, recognises how unique they are in our waters.”

Read full article from the Department of Conservation.

Hundreds of convictions involving people arrested in undercover Fisheries Ministry paua sale operations since 1996 could be overturned following a High Court decision involving a major Wellington paua poaching bust.

High Court judge Ailsa Duffy issued a May 18 decision which found the law was so poorly worded it did not allow penalties to be imposed if illegal paua had been purchased from undercover fisheries officers.

Justice Duffy has recommended the law be rewritten.

“This is another occasion where the court has found that a drafting mistake in the Fisheries Act has had the result of making the enforcement of the offence provisions in the act ineffective,” Justice Duffy said.

The case involved a Manukau District Court conviction of Vietnamese woman Thin Thi Vu for aiding and encouraging Huong Ly to purchase paua from an undercover fisheries officer operating under the assumed name of Brett Stevens.

Read full article from Stuff.

THE public awareness campaign launched by the Bay of Islands Maritime Park to highlight destruction of fisheries globally and the need to do something locally has picked up speed.

The Bay of Islands

A working group will meet tonight at 6pm at Island Life cafe, on the Paihia waterfront.

Under discussion will be a proposed timeline for the group’s marine reserve campaign and discussion about community consultation, which includes developing a genuine understanding of the possible effects of a marine reserve, having conversations with groups in the area and putting on events to help raise public awareness.

The Bay of Islands Maritime Park is the umbrella group for a number of working groups who are all focused on replenishing the Bay of Islands.

The focus is on establishing a network of no-take marine reserves in the bay.

Public consultation is under way to find out what the community thinks of the proposal.

There is a strong case for marine protection to boost tourism potential – illustrated at Leigh and Kaikoura – an aspect which is likely to draw support from the tourism industry.

Another local group, Experiencing Marine Reserves, is working closely with the Bay of Islands Maritime Park and aims to offer its programme to all schools in the Bay.

New Zealand has 31 mainland reserves. Establishing marine protected areas may not be easy but it’s not too hard, says the director of Victoria University’s centre for marine environmental and economic research Jonathan Gardner. He says he is a strong advocate of marine reserves. While there will always be someone who objects to a particular area being designated a protected area, the Fisheries Ministry and the Conservation Department are working more closely together and he is optimistic about the future, he says.

Fisheries scientists are concerned with stock management and commercial harvest, while marine biologists are concerned with protecting and restoring. But while they might disagree about the state of the marine environment, there is little dispute about the benefits of marine protected areas.

“Marine reserves are wonderful and they serve a social and conservation purpose but they won’t cure fisheries.

“However, ultimately, if there are enough of them and they are linked, they may make a larger contribution,” Dr Gardner says.

Read the full article here.

The Fish Team of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa has been sampling the deep fish diversity around White Island, an active volcano (New Zealand) in March 2009. Deep sea baited videos have captured fish diversity from 50 to 900m of depth and fish traps have collected specimens from 50 to 1500m. This footage shows a video from a deployment made at a depth of 50m. Find more information about the work of our fish team at http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/fish.

Always a great weekend at the Poor Knights Islands when you get to spend your 500th dive with a Bronzie.

This report describes the survey of relative abundance of reef fish at the Poor Knights Marine Reserve (full no take protection), the Mimiwhangata Marine Park (partial protection), and Mimiwhangata, North Cape, Cape Karikari and Cape Brett (open to fishing). Using existing data and recent survey data, the performance of these three alternative management strategies is evaluated.

Go to the DOC website to download the publication.

Summary
The Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve has resulted in a significant increase in the size and abundance of snapper.

This study found that in 2009 after more than ten years of no take protection snapper counts were 14 times greater than in 1998 before the marine reserve became fully no-take.

Snapper abundance and size within the Mimiwhangata Marine Park were compared with fished sites at Mimiwhangata. These comparisons indicate that snapper abundance within the marine park was not significantly different than adjacent areas of coast open to fishing.

This study supports previous investigations and concludes that the Mimiwhangata Marine Park fishing restrictions are not achieving their goal of protecting biodiversity while allowing for limited recreational take.

The permit was falsified to allow for a catch 600 paua instead of 60. Photo / Glenn Taylor

A man who used a falsified Maori customary permit to poach paua has been sentenced to 250 hours of community work.

He also faces pressure from the Ministry of Fisheries to say whose boat and scuba gear he was using.

A forfeiture order was made against Christchurch invalid beneficiary James Andrew King, 61, at his sentencing by Judge Philip Moran in the Christchurch District Court yesterday.

Ministry prosecutor Grant Fletcher said fisheries inspectors would give King a directive under the Fisheries Act to name the owner of the boat and the underwater breathing apparatus he was seen using.

Read full article from The New Zealand Herald.