Posted on 09 February
2012 - Wellington, New Zealand - Our Far
South, a voyage to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic
Islands, will set sail tomorrow (Fri 10
Feb) to highlight the global importance
of this last great unspoiled wilderness
and the urgent need to protect it from growing
human-made threats.
WWF-New Zealand’s marine advocate Bob Zuur
will be joining scientists and other Antarctic
experts for the month-long voyage organised
by philanthropist Gareth Morgan, seeking
to raise awareness of the area and inspire
people to speak out to protect this vital
marine ecosystem.
Bob Zuur will blog regularly on the expedition’s
progress throughout the month-long voyage,
and can be followed here. Regular web updates
will also appear on WWF New Zealand’s website
and via Facebook and Twitter (hashtag #ourfarsouth).
Bob Zuur said: “Antarctica’s
Southern Ocean is famed for its majestic
isolation and magnificent wildlife including
Emperor penguins, Albatross, Ross Sea Killer
whales and colossal squid. It is also of
global importance to humanity.
“Antarctica is a critical laboratory for
the study of climate change, and in a rapidly
warming world it is vital we paid heed to
the story it tells.”
Far away, so close
The Southern Ocean’s Ross Sea, which lies
about 3500 km from New Zealand at the edge
of the Antarctic continent, is renowned
by scientists as one of the most significant
remaining large marine ecosystems with its
top predators still intact.
WWF will be using the voyage to highlight
the growing threats facing this important
polar region, which include overfishing,
tourism, shipping and climate change. Mining
and oil exploration also pose potential
future threats to the region.
“This almost pristine
marine environment will not stay this way
for long unless there is a coordinated international
effort to protect it. Current measures are
not enough to stem the tide of human activities
that threaten this great southern wilderness,”
said WWF’s Marine Programme Manager Rebecca
Bird.
“By creating a network of Southern Ocean
marine protected areas we can help fish
stocks and other species – from sea bed
crabs through krill to giant whales – recover.
The Ross Sea shelf, slope and wider region
should be designated a marine reserve, and
we urge the New Zealand Government to play
a central role in international negotiations
around Antarctica later this year.”
The New Zealand Government is a signatory
to the Commission to the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
which will meet in Hobart in October. WWF
will be advocating for a strong international
commitment to protecting most, if not all,
of the Ross Sea.
+ More
Maui’s death in set
net takes species one step closer to extinction
Posted on 01 February
2012 - Auckland, New Zealand - Reports that
an endangered Maui’s dolphin has been killed
in a fishing net off the coast of Taranaki
should serve as a wake up call that current
protection measures are insufficient and
a total ban on set nets is needed throughout
their current and historical range to save
the species, warns WWF.
WWF-New Zealand’s Executive Director Chris
Howe says: “This death of a Maui’s dolphin
is a tragedy for a species that is down
to only about 100 individuals. Set nets
in Maui’s habitat continue to pose an unacceptable
risk to these dolphins. Until we get set
nets out of the shallow coastal waters where
they live, more Maui’s will needlessly get
entangled and drown. The species could be
extinct within our generation without urgent
action.”
Maui’s dolphins, a subspecies of the South
Island’s Hector’s dolphins, are found only
off the west coast of the North Island.
They are the world’s rarest marine dolphin,
classified internationally as critically
endangered.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
(MAF) yesterday released a statement saying
they believe that the dead animal was a
Maui’s, not a Hector’s dolphin as originally
reported, because of the location of its
death. The dead dolphin was returned to
the sea by the fisher. MAF claimed the death
“occurred outside of the current known range
of Maui’s dolphins, as well as outside the
current restrictions.”
However there have been independent verified
sightings of Maui’s dolphins in the coastal
waters off Taranaki in recent years, and
WWF-New Zealand is urging MAF and the government
to extend protection measures throughout
the Maui’s historical range to give the
species the best chance of survival and
recovery.
Despite fishing restrictions announced in
2008, Maui’s are not currently protected
throughout their entire range. WWF is calling
on the government to extend protection measures
into harbours and the southern extent of
their current range, along with better monitoring
and policing of regulations.
WWF- New Zealand is urging all members of
the public who see a Maui’s dolphin – noted
for their rounded dorsal fin - to report
it to a special sightings hotline, 0800
4 MAUIS. Mr Howe says: “Every sighting of
one of these rare and precious dolphins
matters. The more we know about where Maui’s
range and their movements, the better we
can protect them.
“WWF will continue to speak out on behalf
of all those New Zealanders who want to
stop the extinction of Maui’s dolphins,
and urge the government to extend the current
protection measures before it is too late.”
