Elisabeth Easther speaks to the Auckland regional co-ordinator of Experiencing Marine Reserves.
I grew up in Mt Albert, in Auckland but we spent a lot of our holidays on the gulf on Dad's boat or at our bach in Opito Bay. It is a long white sandy beach, the most northeastern point of the Coromandel Peninsula. My dad had a tiny little mask that he put on me, and we'd jump in at a rock pool at the northern end of the beach. It was nice and shallow for learning how to snorkel and spearfish. My dad had strong values about what we should and shouldn't shoot. I only ever spear fish now and am very selective, mainly shooting butterfish for Granny, or trevally and kawahai.
I was about 13, and a female orca and her calf came into the bay, riding waves and picking up stingrays, the mother throwing them up in the air for her calf. My mum had to hold me tightly, to stop me swimming out to them in my pyjamas.
Today I'm the Auckland regional co-ordinator of Experiencing Marine Reserves, teaching kids and communities about the ocean by getting them into it. I love the looks on people's faces when you get them in the water, especially for the first time. That's really rewarding.
Part of the reason I run a Takapuna snorkel day is that no one puts a mask on there, ever. But there are nudibranchs, triple fins, parore and spotties, lots of cool little fish — and most people don't know. The Whangateau estuary is amazing, it's another world, a sandstone reef bordered by mangroves. You'll see big schools, of parore, eagle rays, pipefish and baby snapper.
