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Credit: Dave Allen NIWA

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2017

RV Polaris II: photo diary, part 1

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Alex Connolly, an MSc student at University of Otago, shares a photo diary of her first research voyage, on board RV Polaris II.


I had an amazing time! While there was plenty of work over the 16 days, there were also lots of fun moments, including baking on board a boat, card games with the team, and sunbathing on the deck. The best times were in the water (of course!) particularly free diving with seals at Tonga Island and swimming through the kelp forest at Jacksons Head.

It was interesting to see the contrast inside versus outside of marine reserve boundaries. Inside, I saw a wide range of fish species and some large individual fish, whereas outside I saw more common species and in some areas noticeably smaller fish. Although the trip went well we did have problems due to bad weather. The wind prevented us from sampling at some locations, forcing us to change plans but we still managed to get a large number of samples and data.

I hope you enjoy my photo diary - part 1 is Kaikoura and Marlborough Sounds.

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IMG 5567 day1 Polaris deck loaded up

Day 1: On 9 January, we loaded equipment and supplies, then headed north. Testing content does this show up?

IMG 3081 day1 The research team from left Steve Wing Alex Connolloy Sorrel OConnell Milne Jacquetta Udy Jack Hall Rebecca McMullin

Day 1: The research team (from left): Steve Wing, Primary Researcher; me; Sorrel O’Connell-Milne, Research Assistant; Jacquetta Udy, MSc student; Jack Hall, MSc student; and Rebecca McMullin, PhD student. (Photo: Jacquetta Udy)

IMG 5582 2 Day 1 albatross in the evening

Day 1: Along the way we saw Hector’s dolphins, albatross and an orca. We reached Timaru around 8pm and continued up the coast through the night.

IMG 5744 water sampling bottles

Day 2: We made our way to Kaikoura in the morning, then set out pots and did CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) casts and water sampling in the deep canyons off the coast. We filtered the water samples to extract ‘SPOM’ (suspended particulate organic matter). We use SPOM get a ‘carbon signature’ for each of the different depths we sampled from. We also used a fine mesh filter (20μm) to keep any larger organisms so we could identify them later.

IMG 5648 Day2 common dolphins CROP

Day 2: On our way between sampling sites we saw albatross (including some royals), came across a pod of common dolphins, and saw a whale in the distance surrounded by whale watch boats. We anchored inshore for the night and managed to catch some gurnard in the evening.

IMG 5735 day3 Dive gear and the plankton net dry off

Day 3: In the morning we went for a dive to collect macro-algal species from a rocky reef and saw crayfish, octopus, kina and other invertebrates, as well as a red moki and a seal. After the dive we went fishing and caught some sea perch, then completed another CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) cast in the canyons before continuing north.

IMG 5764 day3 Arriving at Port Underwood

Day 3: Unfortunately the weather turned so we had a bumpy trip up the coast. One large jolt was enough to shock one of our generators, setting off an alarm and leaving us without most of the navigation equipment, over half of the lights on board, and no power to the freezers, fridges and toilets. Luckily once we arrived in Port Underwood for the night a loose wire was found inside the generator and we were able to fix it allowing the trip to continue.

IMG 6135 Jack getting a grab sample

Day 4: The weather cleared and we continued north into Tory Channel where we took grab samples, dredge samples, CTD casts (conductivity, temperature and depth), and water samples from around salmon farms. We also did a dive at the first salmon farm, returning with macro-algae, invertebrates and fish for tissue samples. This is Jack taking a grab sample.

IMG 5784 day4 one of many grab samples

Day 4: Sludge, glorious sludge! One of the many grab samples we took.

MICR0035 day4 spotties in kelp forest

Day 4: We saw lots of animals in the kelp forest including jellyfish and spotties.

IMG 3300 Alex holding 2 camouflage crabs and hermit crab from dredge sample

Day 4: Here I’m holding two camouflage crabs (one with two anemones on its back), and a hermit crab collected in a dredge sample. (Photo: Jacquetta Udy)

IMG 5824 2 day5 Spotties blue cod and tarakihi collected on the dive

Day 5: We continued to sample around the salmon farms and also a control site nearby. After the dives, dredging and water sampling was complete we set off for Long Island - Kokomohua Marine Reserve. At Long Island we cruised around the potential dive site areas before heading east and away from the marine reserve towards Jackson’s Head where we collected fish. The fish that we decided to keep were photographed, weighed, measured and labelled. We anchored in the sheltered Ship Cove for the night. These are spotties, blue cod and tarakihi we collected on the dive.

IMG 5820 Day5 Invertebrates and kelp collected on the dive

Day 5: Invertebrates and kelp we collected on the dive.

IMG 5830 Rebecca labels her invertebrates

Day 5: Rebecca labels her invertebrates.

MICR0021 day6 Ecklonia radiata surrounded by Carpophyllum sp 2

Day 6: We surveyed 3 dive sites; the northwest side of Long Island, the south end of Motuara Island, and at Motungarara Island. We did algal and fish surveys identifying species and densities at each location. This is Ecklonia radiata surrounded by Carpophyllum species.

IMG 5892 Day 6 filtering station manned by Jacquetta and Alex

Day 6: At the 3 dive sites a plankton tow, water sampling and CTD cast was done. This is the filtering station manned by Jacquetta and I.

MICR0080 Day6 banded wrasse

Day 6: Inside the marine reserve we saw banded wrasse (pictured), spotties, yellow-eyed mullet, blue cod, blue moki, urchins and crayfish; all were rather large, which is a sign that the marine reserve is doing well. A fourth non-survey dive was done in Resolution Bay where we anchored for the night to collect fish for tissue sampling and shellfish for work with heavy metal accumulation. After dark we turned on the floodlight and watched yellow-eyed mullet and squid swim past. Previous

DSCN1177 day7 blue cod credit J Udy

Day 7: The weather was calm enough to do dives at more exposed sites in the marine reserve including the south east south west ends of Long Island. Both these sites are characterised by rubble and very little kelp past 5m from the shoreline, and there were also lots of large blue cod in deeper water. In the afternoon we did a third survey dive back at Jacksons Head. (Photo: Jacquetta Udy)

MICR0105 day7 paua on rubble

Day 7: Pāua on the rubble.

MICR0168 day7 a well camouflaged marble fish

Day 7: Can you spot the well camouflaged marblefish?

IMG 5942 day7 sunset at Ngakuta Bay

Day 7: We anchored in Ngakuta Bay for the night and went for a free dive to collect more fish samples. The sunset was stunning.

IMG 5955 day 8 dive at The Twins

Day 8: The first survey dive of the day was at The Twins where we also collected fish, shellfish and algae.

IMG 5967 day8 leather jacket

Day 8: Our second survey dive was back in Long Island - Kokomohua Marine Reserve on the north east side. This area was incredibly kelpy and home to a wide variety of macro-algal species, as well as pāua, banded wrasse, spotties, butterfish, leather jacket (pictured), and lots of big blue moki. Blue moki are a commercially fished species so to see them so large and in such high numbers is a good sign. We did a final collection dive near Jacksons Head before heading to Otanerau Bay for the night.

MICR0020 Moment4 day8 octopus CREDIT Rebecca McMullin

Day 8: We saw an octopus on our afternoon collection dive (Photo: Rebecca McMullin)