From slaughter to sanctuary

With suitable space at a premium, the different species have had to learn to live side by side. Photo / Supplied

To the south and east of New Zealand, in the great Southern Ocean that encircles Antarctica, lie seven island groups.

They are inhospitable places, blasted by unremitting westerly winds. Yet a striking range of wildlife survives on these specks of land.

Megaherbs grow in warmer spots, their flowers and leaves bigger than mainland relatives. Seals and seabirds cluster on rocky coasts in their thousands. Some are found nowhere else on the planet.

Many species have recovered after being pushed towards extinction by sealers 200 years ago. Few New Zealanders get to visit these bleak outposts though tourists in search of a wilderness trip - and the chance to capture some astonishing images - can travel in regulated numbers.

Pioneer operator Heritage Expeditions, founded by biologist Rodney Russ, has been taking groups on a Polar class ship to these wild places since 1985.

Russ and his colleague Dr Aleks Terauds have just published Galapagos of the Antarctic , a richly illustrated book which details the history and wildlife of an unforgiving region.

The extract below covers the Bounty Islands, the smallest wild islands south of New Zealand. They cover 135 ha and lie 650km southeast of the mainland.

The islands have reserve status, visits are strictly controlled and landings allowed only under permit from the Department of Conservation.

They were named by William Bligh, commander of the Bounty, just a few months before he was forced off his ship in the famous Tahiti mutiny in 1789. Bligh passed the Bounties on his voyage to the Pacific and described the islands as 'bare and desolate, with the inability to afford any vegetable production'.

AT FIRST sight, the sheer density of life on the Bounty Islands, particularly during the summer months, threatens to overwhelm the senses. The sight, noise and smell of this huge concentration of biomass all congregated on a few small granite rocks in the middle of the ocean almost defies belief.

On approaching the Bounties, the first thing a visitor sees are the thousands of albatrosses circling and calling. On closer approach, even more albatrosses can be made out nesting on the ground, and amongst these the penguins, shags, gulls and prions who also call this group of rocks home; it's a wonder there's any room for the fur seals. In fact, it is one of the largest breeding colonies of New Zealand Fur Seals.

PENGUINS

The Bounty Islands and the Antipodes Islands are the only two places in the world where erect crested penguins breed. In the seabird survey of 1978, it was estimated there were over 115,000 pairs of this species breeding throughout the Bounty Island group.

In a more recent census, researchers estimated that there were around 28,000 pairs breeding there. Again, different census methodologies make it difficult to draw too many conclusions from the differences.

Nevertheless, due to its restricted breeding range and likely decline, the species is listed as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There are no records of other penguins breeding on these islands.

ALBATROSSES

The Bounty Islands are the world's main breeding ground of the Salvin's albatross, which breeds in large colonies across the island group. They tend to concentrate above the areas that are wave-washed, utilising the broader slopes and ledges. The Salvin's albatross is one of the "shy complex" of albatross species, along with the Chatham, white-capped and shy albatross.

Salvin's albatross forage widely over the Southern Ocean, especially in the non-breeding season when they are thought to disperse eastwards to the eastern Pacific Ocean and the coast of South America.

In a census carried out in 1978 by the first group to land and spend time on the Bounty Islands in over 95 years, Chris Robertson estimated that there were approximately 76,000 pairs of this species across the island group.

In 1997, Department of Conservation field workers Andrea Booth and Jacinda Amey estimated there were around 31,000 pairs. Again, as is often the case with censuses that are separated by long time periods, different methodologies and base maps confound direct comparisons.

It does seem likely that there has been some decline over this time period, however, which is why the IUCN has listed this species as "vulnerable".

PETRELS

Due to the difficulties in conducting comprehensive censuses, it is often hard to know exactly which species are actually breeding on the island group, and even more difficult to ascertain population numbers.

So, while Snares Cape petrels and fulmar prions are known to occur , it is very difficult to estimate actual numbers. The 1978 census estimated there were over 7000 breeding pairs of the latter species.

The sea to the north of the Bounty Islands is often full of petrels taking advantage of the nutrient-rich and productive waters. Commonly observed species include the white-chinned petrels, soft-plumage petrels , white-headed petrels , grey-backed storm petrels , black-bellied storm petrels, southern common diving petrels and both forms of the little shearwater.

Of special note is the Chatham petrel , which is thought to use these waters as an important feeding ground and is regularly observed in mixed flocks with species such as Cook's petrel , black-winged petrels and great-winged petrels.

OTHER SEABIRDS

The Bounty Island shag , which breeds on many islets of the group, is one of the rarest cormorants in the world. A census in 1978 estimated there were between 500 and 600 pairs and the species is wholly restricted to this island group.

More recent attempts to count the number of nests - made of seaweed and marine debris and found on some of the steeper cliff areas throughout the island group - have resulted in much lower estimates and the current population status is largely unknown. Several other breeding seabirds that can be found in small and scattered number are the subantarctic (brown) skua , southern black-backed gulls , red-billed gulls and antarctic terns .

SEALS

New Zealand fur seals are the only mammal breeding on the Bounty Islands. They were hunted almost to extinction in the early decades of the 1800s. The population recovered slowly following this early exploitation, but another period of sealing in the 1880s again removed all the seals that were present. Since that time the population has recovered, although it is unlikely that numbers have reached pre-exploitation levels.

Following a 1994 aerial census, Rowley Taylor estimated there were over 4000 pups born annually on the islands, with a total population of somewhere between 19,500 and 27,500 seals. This is by far the biggest breeding colony in New Zealand waters and represents a very important site for this species.

THE SEALING ERA

Being as bare and desolate as they were, the Bounties were not immediately deemed suitable for human habitation, even though the number of seals there was undoubtedly tempting for the seal hunters who abounded in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The American sealing vessels the Perserverance and the Pilgrim, under the command of Captain Delano, visited the islands on November 7 1804. On arrival, the strong westerly gale that had accompanied them all the way from The Snares continued unabated.

They observed numerous shoals and a number of areas with broken water and became quickly convinced "that it was a very dangerous place for a ship to come near to". Captain Delano noted the presence of shag and gulls and a few seals.

At this stage of the sealing era, the abundance of seals on the larger islands did not make it appealing to land gangs on the smaller, more inhospitable islands like the Bounties.

The first sealing gang landed on the Bounty Islands in 1807. They were from the schooner Brothers and spent a few months living ashore before eventually returning to Sydney with a bountiful harvest of 38,000 skins.

The Santa Anna, skippered by Captain William Moody, was next to visit and after leaving Sydney in the latter half of 1807 she stopped at the Bay of Islands to take on the Maori chief Ruatara. The Santa Anna then sailed for the Bounty Islands, where Ruatara and 13 others were landed, most probably in February 1808.

In May 1808, nearly four months after landing the men, the owners of the Santa Anna were contacted by Captain Moody, calling their attention to the fact that the men would undoubtedly be in need of relief.

It was reported in the press (Sydney Gazette, May 15 1808) that the Commerce had sailed from Sydney on February 6 1808 to relieve the gang, but this was likely to be a company response to allay public concerns about the group and the supposed relief voyage never reached them.

It was not until about September 1808 that the whaler King George under the command of Captain Chace, reached the Bounty Islands and afforded some relief to the stranded men.

The Santa Anna returned to the island in November 1808 to find the men had undergone extreme suffering from thirst and hunger and three had died.

Remarkably, they had managed to obtain 8000 skins during their nine months ashore and after loading their catch aboard, they set sail for London.

While sealing on the Bounty Islands peaked in 1807 and 1808, when more than 40,000 skins were taken, it continued sporadically until the 1820s. Over this time at least 50,000 skins were taken from the islands, and, given the difficulties in obtaining accurate records from this era, it is likely that the number is greater than that.

On an exploratory sealing and whaling voyage in 1831, Captain J. Biscoe in the Tula landed on the Bounty Islands and found few seals.

However, he did find remnants of recent European occupation, including a hut made out of the wings and skins of birds, suggesting sealers had inhabited the islands relatively recently. They only saw five seals during this visit.

GIVEAWAY

We have two copies of Galapagos of the Antarctic by Rodney Russ and Alex Terauds (Heritage Expeditions $87.50) to give away. To be eligible to win a copy you must answer this question:

What is the name of the albatross species which breeds in large colonies on the Bounty Islands?

Write your answer on the back of an envelope, with your name, address and contact number and send it to:

Galapagos contest, Weekend Review, Box 3290, Auckland to reach us by Thursday January 21.