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I’m
in absolute grief about this. This is one of my favourite places in
New Zealand
Famous
seal breeding ground destroyed by quake
Pups
from the Ohau Point seal colony frolicking beneath a waterfall. The
breeding ground was destroyed in Monday's magnitude 7.5 earthquake.
16
November, 2016
A
beloved seal breeding ground near Kaikoura has been destroyed.
Ohau
Point is a popular tourist spot due to its thriving seal colony on
the jagged rocks by State Highway 1.
Visitors
can walk along Ohau Stream Track to a waterfall, where seal pups are
often spotted playing in the pool beneath.
The
seal breeding ground at Ohau Point, north of Kaikoura, has been
destroyed. It is expected a nearby waterfall where ...
The
seal breeding ground at Ohau Point, north of Kaikoura, has been
destroyed. It is expected a nearby waterfall where seal pups play has
also been destroyed.
Massive
landslides caused by this week's earthquakes appear to have wiped out
the breeding ground along the coast, just weeks before the start of
pupping season.
"The
majority of that breeding colony is completely gone," Department
of Conservation (DOC) ranger Mike Morrissey said.
"It's
just rock."
It
is likely some seals were killed in the landslides.
It
was fortunate timing, however, as many would have been out at sea
feeding ahead of pupping season.
It
was unlikely there were pups at the waterfall at the time of the
earthquake, Morrissey said.
The
waterfall was not yet accessible, so it was unclear if it remained
intact, but due to the surrounding damage it was unlikely to have
survived.
When
the seals returned in the coming weeks they would not recognise their
home, Morrissey said.
"Those
seals generally come back to the area where they were born. They'll
go in there and it won't be like anywhere they recognise before, so
they'll probably just go and breed on other parts of the coast."
The
colony will likely return at some stage, albeit in a different form.
"There's
that much damage to the colony there now that if they clear the road
they'll probably just tip a lot of that stuff over the edge where it
will just create new habitat for them anyhow.
"Once
the rocks are settled they'll come back."
There
were areas both north and south of Ohau Point where seals could haul
themselves out to rest, said DOC marine species and threats manager
Ian Angus.
It
would take several weeks for the full impact on wildlife to be
determined. Blue penguins may also have been affected.
"DOC's
immediate priority in the aftermath of the earthquakes is to assist
Civil Defence with the recovery effort, including ensuring that
structures and tracks are safe."
A
group of University of Canterbury students had been studying the seal
colony and hoped to use thermal imaging to check the population.
"We're
hoping to get up there within the next couple weeks," said
scientist Dr Sharyn Goldstein, who is supervising the students.
"Apparently
there has been a big landslide, and at this year they're pupping and
pregnant so it might have quite an effect."
There
are also concerns for the local shearwater population, which live in
a colony high in the Kaikoura ranges.
The
endangered seabird lives only in Kaikoura where the population is
fiercely protected by locals, particularly when they fall from the
sky en masse.
DOC
has yet to survey the damage to the colony as it can only be reached
by helicopter, but it is likely to have been impacted.
"I
should imagine from what we can see that there will be quite big
effects," Morrissey said.
