Hundreds of thousands of mussels cooked to death on New Zealand beach in heatwave

Northland residents describe ‘heartbreaking’ find as experts warn climate crisis could make it a more frequent sight

Hundreds of thousands of mussels have been cooked to death on a beach in New Zealand’s North Island, with experts saying more will die as the effects of the climate crisis accelerate.

The mass die-off in Northland was sparked by “an exceptional period of warm weather” combined with low tides in the middle of the day, which had exposed the shellfish, said Dr Andrew Jeffs, a marine scientist from the University of Auckland.

He said more marine life would soon be affected by climate change, and there was little that that could be done to protect the vulnerable shellfish, other than manual protection measures such as shadecloth, which were impractical and “unrealistic”.

Northland is experiencing drought conditions, with many parts of the region not seeing rain for a record-breaking 40 plus days. The effects of the drought have been severe, with Kiwi birds perishing as they search for water, and tankers of freshwater urgently trucked in to fill rainwater tanks in remote communities.

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Weather radar catches massive bug swarm - via Tony Lucas

A vast swarm of bugs that covered much of the northern half of the North Island last night and this morning has been caught on the Metservice weather radar.

MetService didn't know what it was and entomologists were puzzled.

But there was a strong suspicion that it was an unwanted Australian heading home.

One was convinced it was the Tasmanian grass grub and another suspected huge swarm of aphids.

"I have no idea," said Bugman Ruud Kleinpaste.

"I would suggest go up in the air in aeroplane stick out a butterfly net and see what you catch."

He also speculated it could be a dust storm.

Fellow entomologist Stephen Pawson of Scion, a Crown research institute, had a more pragmatic answer; whatever if was, it was large, and it is going to be coming in on the surf at Piha and Muriwai for the next week or so.

Metservice's Peter Kreft said the unknown insects began swarming over the Waikato region about 9pm yesterday.

"They were pushed by the south easterly wind north toward Auckland," he said.

By 7am Friday the massive swarm was out over the Tasman Sea, west of Auckland.

Kreft said the weather service was not sure what it was.

"We strongly suspect the echo is swarms of insects," Metservice said.

"To show up in radar imagery like this, they must be about as large as, and as numerous as, precipitation particles....

"We see this from time to time, but this one is a very good example of it."

Pawson said at a guess the timings favoured Tasmanian grass grub (aphodius tasmaniae), an introduced agricultural pest.

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Rarest kiwi species reintroduced to New Zealand’s North Island

Return of rarest kiwi to North Island after hundreds of years absence

June 2012. Rowi, the world's rarest kiwi species, is returning to the North Island after an absence of hundreds of years.

Mana Island - Predator free
Twenty juvenile rowi will be going to Mana Island, near Wellington, to establish a new colony in the hope of improving the breeding prospects for the species. Normally they would be going home to Ōkārito, in South Westland, from their crèche on Motuara Island in Queen Charlotte Sound.

"By sending a juvenile population north to predator-free Mana Island, we're making it possible for the rowi to breed with much less human interference," says Iain Graham, BNZ Operation Nest Egg^TM Ranger.

"We expect that the absence of predator pressure, better breeding conditions and less competition for territories will ensure that the Mana Island rowi produce a high number of chicks that can eventually become part of the home population in Ōkārito."

Eggs hatched and reared in safety
The Department of Conservation removed the 20 rowi eggs from the Ōkārito forest to protect them from predators - stoats and other introduced pests - as part of BNZ Operation Nest Egg^TM. After they were hatched at the West Coast Wildlife Centre in Franz Josef, the chicks were raised to maturity on predator-free Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds. The juveniles are now ready for their long term OE. The rowi will be transferred by New Zealand Air Force helicopter from Ngāti Toa Domain across to Mana Island.

Rowi population growing
Thanks to conservation efforts led by DOC and the BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust, rowi numbers have slowly been increasing from a low of fewer than 200 birds in 2007.

Pest control in Ōkārito forest is ongoing but reinvasion rates of stoats and rats mean that supplementing natural breeding using the BNZ Operation Nest Egg^TM programme has guaranteed a better level of success in producing young adult rowi.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rowi-kiwi.html#cr