FEBRUARY 2015 • VOL 13, ISSUE 2 THANKS TO OUR ADVERTISERS, IT’S STILL…
FREE!
The
NORTHWEST
The Best of the Pacific Northwest!
M
y wife Courtenay, 10-year-old daughter Brooke, and I took a three week trip to New Zealand in December. For months, we made out lists of what we each wanted to see and experience on the North and South Islands. Because of our strong interests in wildlife and nature, we chose to spend about two-thirds of our time on the South Island. Kaikoura sits on a small peninsula on the east coast of the South Island. Within one-third of a mile of the peninsula, an underwater canyon plunges nearly 4,000 feet deep. Because of the upwelling of oceanic currents, this
Birds of
New Zealand
area is extremely rich in fish and marine mammals. Kaikoura was home to the first whaling station in New Zealand in 1842. Whaling stopped in 1964, but thankfully the area still attracts several varieties of whales. Sperm whales live there year round. We took a cruise to view sperm whales “logging” or hanging out ABOVE: Courtenay (right) and Brooke (left) enjoy a kayak’s view of on the surface within a half mile of shore. They the varied bird life of New Zealand. spouted water at the surface and showed big tail MAIN PHOTO: One of the rarest penguins in the world, a yellow-eyed flukes for deep dives. Sperm whales can be up penguin, makes his way up the shore to a night-time roost. to 36 feet long and are the largest of the “toothed” whale species. The Kaikoura Canyon provides pelagic birds. Pelagic birds are birds that stay in the open seas all the time except when they come to land to reproa bounty of fish for them to eat. Because of the rich fish populations there are also duce. One of the more well-known groups of pelagic many fur seal colonies in the area and a large variety of BIRDS—cont’d on page 2