How do you count albatross on a remote rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?
For Mark Fraser of Canterbury Museum it involved free climbing up 30-metre cliff faces, camping on an exposed rock stack off the Chatham Islands and hauling science equipment onto the islet using ropes. Mark, who is a trained seabird ornithologist and Collections Technician Natural History at Canterbury Museum, will recount his adventures counting rare seabirds in this special talk.
Mark has counted albatross populations on the Forty-Fours/Motuhara islet and the Pyramid/Tarakoikoia, which are both near the Chatham Islands about 800 kilometres east of New Zealand. The Forty-Fours is only 750 metres long and covers just 11 hectares, while The Pyramid (above) is much smaller at 200 metres wide and about 200 metres high. Mark has monitored populations of Chatham Island Albatross and Northern Buller’s Albatross for five years. Come along to this fascinating talk to learn about monitoring wildlife in extreme environments.
A Friends of the Canterbury Museum talk.