THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS VISITED

Forest and Bird, Volume 15, Issue 2, 1 May 1984, Page 14

THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS VISITED

by

Audrey Eagle

It was a privilege to visit the Auckland Islands and also an adventure which was faced with some trepidation. Everything we had read implied the worst: "‘vile weather .. . bleak climate, strong westerly winds, rainfall spread over 300 days a year’. We hadn't expected that our six days were to be sunny and calm with only one wet morning. Alex Black’s Acheron of Dunedin was chartered, and skippered by him with a crew of three, his wife Colleen, son Sandy and Naomi Peterson, former mate on the Spirit of Adventure. The Acheron was to become our floating hotel, as sleeping ashore is not permitted. The 23m long vessel was comfortably filled by fourteen people, so it is amazing to think that Captain Cook’s Endeavour was only 9m longer and yet held 94 men and all their stores for a long voyage. Pauline Mayhill of Hamilton arranged the trip. The party of ten consisted mostly of Waikato members of Forest and Bird and the Ornithological Society. Two were members of the Conchologist Society. The party was comprised of Pauline, Keith and Peter Mayhill, Peggie Jenner, Bryony Macmillan, Mercia Barnes, Jim Gaulstone, Ron Sinclair, Audrey Marriott and myself. Our purpose was to learn more about land snails, birds, plants and also to satisfy a desire to see the Auckland Islands from a conservation point of view. The Department of Lands and Survey had issued permits for landing and also permits to Pauline Mayhill and Jim Gaulstone for collecting land snails for the National Museum; to Bryony Macmillan of Botany Division, DSIR for collecting samples of Acaenas (bidibidi) needed for her study of this genus; and to me for collecting a leaf and a flower from Stilbocarpa, gentian, Anisotome and two species of Pleurophyllum, all of which | wanted to paint. December 2. We left Dunedin on the thirty-six hour passage which, as we neared the Auckland Islands, became quite lively and we were grateful to arrive in the calm waters of Erebus Cove where we spent the first day. Having avoided the solitary Hooker’s sea-lion (Phocarctos hookeri) that was guarding the small beach, we visited the graveyard that once formed part of the Enderby Settlement. To see ‘‘Died of Starvation’"’ on a gravestone as almost a first impression of the Auckland Islands which remained in my thoughts throughout our wanderings and at each place we visited | wondered how one could survive there. The sea-lion had followed us and chased us from our contemplation of the cemetery so we turned our attention to the forest. Typical lowland Auckland Island forest is made up of southern rata, (Metrosideros umbellata), many of which have liverwort and moss covered, prostrate trunks from which grow a thicket of branches, inanga (Dracophyllum longifolium) with trunks up to 10m in height and haumakaroa (Pseudopanax simplex). Weeping matipo (Myrsine divaricata) and hipiro (Coprosma foetidissima) were the understorey and always present was the fern Polystichum vestitum, ideally suited to the conditions, growing very large and often with trunks a metre in height. At a higher level (about 50m) the rata becomes scrubby and ends. The main species then are the matipo, inanga and cottonwood (Cassinia vauvilliersii) which in some places form an almost impenetrable barrier. Above the scrub belt tussocks take over and, on wet summit ridges, mosses, liverworts, lichens and sedges grow, and in drier areas, dwarf alpine plants. But we never had time to scramble up to the higher tops and see these plants at close quarters. December 5. Was to Enderby Island where on landing we were face to face with some of the seventy-four impressive male sea-lions that were on guard along the sandy beach. There were no females present for them to fight over so they mainly ignored each other and us. The majestic and well-named royal albatrosses (Diomedea epomophora) were sitting On eggs, unperturbed by the clicking of cameras. The first plant excitement was a host of golden-flowered Bulbinella rosii covering several hectares. On Enderby Island most of the herbs have been eaten flat to the ground by the hungry cattle and rabbits so it is fortunate that Bulbinella is unpalatable to them. Other spectacular herbs have gone, or like Anisotome latifolia a few plants cling to cliff edges out of reach of the browsing animals. Anisotome belongs to the carrot family and the root was one of the survival foods of the castaways. All the birds gave us great joy; yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) marching inland, one being seen on a nest with a chick. Auckland Island shag

(Phalacrocorax colensoi) colonies, some members of which came and gawked at the humans feeding; banded dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus) on the higher land and both red-crowned parakeets (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) and New Zealand pipits (Anthus novaeseelandiae) were finding something to eat on the chewed-down ground cover near the shore. For the birds and animals to accept us, unafraid, as part of the natural Scene was a precious experience. December 6. The morning was spent at Tandy Inlet where we were hoping to climb to Chapel Rock (31m) to look for snails and to see what plants were growing there. But apart from speeding up through occasional patches of snow-grass and inanga, progress through the scrub was painfully slow and everyone finally gave up the struggle. The coastal edge was more rewarding where a single plant of a beautiful deep-blue forget-me-not was seen Myosotis capitata, with flower heads about 5cm across. Bellbirds (Anthornis melanura) were numerous, both young and mature birds delighting the ears of the listeners. Our afternoon stop was at Hanfield Inlet where we saw several specimens of the tree fern (Cyathea smithii). Tree ferns occur in only a few sheltered places in the Auckland Islands and the most southerly in the world were found by Dr Eric Godley in 1969 growing in Waterfall Inlet, 11km to the south of Hanfield Inlet. We scrambled around a cliff edge to see Stilbocarpa polaris growing in a spot accessible to pigs. It is a handsome plant with deeply ribbed leaves up to 45cm across. That night we anchored in Waterfall Inlet where we spent an hour or so ashore before our evening meal. We were more often than not on sea-lion tracks, with their distinctive smell, and this time we used them to pass through the band of shoulder high silvery-yellow grasses near the shore. There was always the anxiety of a sudden meeting with one of these enormous beasts in a restricted spot, and here we saw one, resting, that had presumably been wounded in a fight. In the adjoining rata forest a tomtit (Petroica macrocephala) with a white breast was feeding two yellow-breasted young. It had a raised ‘‘crest’’ which may have been to make it look bigger and so frighten us off but his top-knot did not produce the same effect as that caused by the sudden roar of a sea-lion. December 7. This was to be an important day so we left our anchorage at 6am and headed up Carnley Harbour for Fairchild’s Garden on Adams Island. Here a special

permit is required for landing as there are no introduced animals or plants on this island, so boots and clothing had to be checked for any seeds before going ashore. We climbed up a steep rocky watercourse through the usual coastal belt of Hebe elliptica which withstands, undamaged, the salt-laden winds. We then passed through a belt of stunted rata, inanga and matipo at the edge of which a sub-antarctic snipe (Coenocorypha aucklandica) appeared from almost under my feet. Its long beak made up nearly @ quarter of its 23cm length. Then came the cherished moment of standing on the edge of a vast meadow of large-leaved tropical looking plants. The large leaves were perfect, not tattered by the strong winds the region is noted for. They belonged to two species of Pleurophyllum, P. speciosum which has white to mauve ray-florets on its large daisy flower-heads and P. criniferum which has dark maroon flower-heads without ray-florets. We were fortunate to see some flowers on these beautiful plants as we were slightly early for the main flowering season. Iwo other large and spectacular plants were fully out; Sti/bocarpa polaris with yellow flowers and Anisotome l/atifolia with mauve flowers. On a smaller scale were the 12cm high Gentiana concinna with reddish-purple flowers and again we met the bright blue forget-me-not. To see an island of native plants completely unaltered by humans is a privilege granted to few. As well as the interesting plants, we saw twenty or so wandering albatross chicks (Diomedea exulans) their heads raised above the snow-grass to look at us. One was being fed and others were exercising their long wings. Light mantled sooty albatrosses (Phoebetria palpebrata) were resting on the cotula sward. We saw the occasional giant petrel chick (Macronectes giganteus) like a soccer ball of grey down, and also saw swimming amongst the swooshing kelp, an Auckland Island flightless duck (Anas aucklandica). We were fortunate to have Colleen Black as our guide on these occasions for as well as being a qualified skipper and an excellent caterer, she was very knowledgeable about the plants. Still in Carnley Harbour we sailed to Epigwaitt where we saw the few remaining timbers of the Grafton which was wrecked in 1864 and also the remains of the cottage built by the survivors of the wreck. That evening we anchored at Camp Cove. After our evening meal we walked up the

track formed by members of the 1972/73 Scientific Expedition which had been based here. This track was one of the few on the islands. The very wet conditions in this area are ideal for mosses, liverworts, and filmy ferns, of which there was a great variety. The evenings were so light in this latitude at 10pm that we were able to see the filmy ferns well enough to identify them, even in the darkness of the bush. December 8. The weather was once again kind to us and as there were no strong winds an early start was made to pass through Victoria Passage, the narrow channel between Adams Island and Monumental Island and through which flow strong tidal eddies. The Acheron then turned north along the western side of Auckland Island. The cliffs here were steep and forbidding and were the cause of several wrecks including that of the General Grant in 1866. As with Adams Island a special permit was required to land on Disappointment Island, an island which more often than not is surrounded by such a heavy swell that landing is impossible. This was the first time specialists in land snails had visited this island to collect specimens. Incidentally, 5mm diameter would be a large snail and excitement can run high on the finding of a species even 1mm in diameter. It was a great thrill to grab the swirling kelp, pull oneself up on to a ledge of rock, and actually stand on Disappointment Island. How different was our reaction to that of the sixteen survivors of the Dundonald in 1907 who thought that they were on the main island where there were food depots, only to find that they were on a small treeless island. They managed to survive there for five months in grass-covered holes in the perpetually wet peat. Eventually some made it to the main island in a coracle made of hebe branches covered in sealskin and brought rescue to their comrades. Disappointment Island, like Adams Island, is unique in that there are no introduced animals or plants. 60,000 birds, the world’s largest population of albatross, breed here. This particular species being called the shy or white-capped mollymawks (Diomedea cauta) they were sitting on eggs as were the rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes crestatus). Petrel burrows were numerous their occupants not being seen, but heard, muttering below ground, sub-antarctic snipe and Auckland Island flightless duck were scurrying about in the undergrowth. Southern skuas (Catharacta lonnbergi) were sitting on vantage points ready to seize an unwary bird’s egg. Some of the discarded penguin eggs, | noticed, had holes in them. For me the highlight of this whole wonderful Auckland Island experience was the hour | spent with a fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri). Over a period of half an hour | slowly crawled along a rocky ledge until | was lying less than a metre away from it and then together we contemplated the heaving sea with the occasional sideways glance at each other. Many of the lovely plants seen in Fairchild’s Garden were flowering here also but the blue-flowered Hebe benthamii which wasn’t seen in flower in Fairchild’s Garden, and which only grows in the sub-antarctic islands, had two blossoms remaining giving just a

hint of its attractiveness. The first land snail seen on Disappointment Island was found crawling up the tripod of my camera while photographing this flower! On our way to North Harbour we passed Beacon Rock where cape pigeons (Daption capensis) were nesting. We saw three goats and several sea-lions on the shore and when we landed and crossed the beach we were surprised to find that these sea-lions could lift their immense weight on to their flippers and chase us at such speed that we had to run fast, intimidating us further with large wide-open mouths and loud roars. The bush here was eaten out by the goats, the inanga only surviving where it was a perching plant on the rata. That night we again anchored in Erebus Cove, having circumnavigated Auckland Island thanks to the wonderful weather and the enthusiasm of Alex Black who wanted us to have as complete a picture of the islands as possible. December 9. Rose Island was visited in the morning. We had hoped to see the beautiful light mantled sooty albatrosses nesting, but were too early and some birds were seen in courting displays. A colony of about forty giant petrel chicks were found, some covered in grey down and others able to run around. Peggie Jenner had an unusual experience as protector to a future relentless hunter, when a skua chick which was being harried by black-backed gulls (Larus dominicanus) ran to her for protection. On a windswept cliff-top where the vegetation was eaten flat to the ground, rabbits being present on this island, | saw gentians (Gentiana cerina var. cerina) covering an area of about 100m? their heads bobbing in the breeze, some white, some red and some white with red stripes. The smooth even outline of rata was a feature of much of the coastline and later when in flower would be a dazzling display. Only on Rose Island did we see one of these trees in flower. A tomtit was also seen being very bold hopping about on the swirling kelp and eating minute insects. Our next stop was at Ranui Cove where there had been a lookout station during World War II, the buildings were still intact. We went to the lookout point and trig (76m) to have our final look at the Auckland Islands, the view the Coast Watchers would have been so familiar with, and that evening we headed out for Dunedin. The wonderful birds, animals and plants indigenous to the Auckland Islands are dependent on man’s care, understanding and goodwill for their survival and need all the protection that can be given. We New Zealanders are responsible to the world for their survival.