Northland news in brief: Research into red weed covering beaches; and man injured when tractor rolls

A research project has been started to find out more about the swathes of red weed, above, that often cover the beach at Waipū Cove

A research project has been set up, aiming to find out more about the large dumps of red weed that often carpet Waipū Cove beach.
The beach has seen varying amounts of the algae for several summers. At one point last year it was enough to block the lagoon, stranding juvenile fish and leading to a strong smell of decomposing material.
Now the Waipū Cove Reserve Trust Board has commissioned scientists at the Cawthron Institute to design a citizen monitoring programme. The idea is to get a better picture of algae on the shore and in the water, built up from sightings by locals and visitors over the medium to long term - between 2 to 5 years.
You'll find the survey at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/c1a5674ee0f84b468dc979f90c344a41

Tractor injury

An Ōpua man has suffered a head injury after his tractor rolled on steep ground on a Rigden Rd property. St John Ambulance, Kawakawa Fire Brigade and police were called just before noon yesterday. He was taken to Bay of Islands Hospital in a moderate condition. Firefighters secured the tractor to make sure it couldn't roll any further.

Vax numbers

The number of unvaccinated non-Māori in Northland continues to exceed the number of unvaxxed Māori, latest Health Ministry figures show. As of Thursday 8976 non-Māori aged 12 and over in Northland had yet to receive their first jab while the figure for Māori was 7260. The number of Pasifika people aged 12-plus who hadn't received a jab was just 39.

Mentorship for writers
Young Northland writers can apply for a NZ Society of Authors Youth Mentorship Programme for emerging young writers.
Four secondary school students will each have the opportunity to be mentored by one of New Zealand's best professional authors to develop their craft and hone their writing skills.
The NZSA Youth Mentorship Programme offers aspiring young writers aged 15-18 a mentorship from May to November. The mentor programme aims to foster and develop emerging writing talent with the support of established authors. For further information and entry forms go to https://authors.org.nz/opportunities/nzsa-youth-mentor-programme/. Entries close on April 6.

Rain skips wetland

The heavy rain that doused much of Northland in recent days bypassed the very place it was needed most — the Kaimaumau wetland where a fire has been burning since December 18. Fire and Emergency NZ Northland commander Wipari Henwood said, however, he was confident the fire was contained and could no longer escape. The fire ground was being monitored and a drone with a thermal imaging camera would be used to check for hot spots as soon as weather conditions allowed. There had been hopes another weather system heading towards New Zealand would bring rain this weekend but that was now expected to bypass Northland. Winter rain and a raised water table would be needed to fully extinguish the peat burning underground.