The Swing Bridge and Kekenos

Wednesday (5/28) as we were driving to Westport we stopped at the Buller River Gorge, home of New Zealand's longest swing bridge. After we made the trek across the bridge there are four different walking paths to choose from with varying lengths and different sights to see. Pressed for time we all went on the loop walk which was long enough to stretch our legs and gave us a chance to see a wide variety of plant life including Crown Ferns (Piupiu) and different kinds of pines (White, Black, Brown and Red). Along this walk you are also able to see the White's Creek faultline. This was one of the epicenters of the Murchison earthquake in 1929. This earthquake measured a 7.8 on the Richter Scale and was felt all around the country. During this earthquake the ground rose 4.5 meters or 15 feet instantly in this area. After the walk some people chose to take the comet line back across the gorge while the rest walked back over the bridge.

After we got settled in at the Canterbury field station we went to see the seal colony at Tauranga Bay. Just a short walk from the carpark you could see and hear the seals out on the rocks. The type of seals that are found here are New Zealand Fur Seals also known as Kekeno. They are the most common seals in New Zealand and are also found in western and southern Australia. Kekenos hunt at night and mainly feed on squid and small fish but sometimes feed on larger creatures such as barracuda and eels. Kekenos are very good swimmers and the pups have been recoded to swim as far as Australia. The females are also known to be some of the deepest and longest divers of any of the fur seals. Off the west coast they are known to dive deeper than 238m for up to 11 minuets, but the average dive time is one to two minutes. The estimated population of the seals in New Zealand is 50-60,000. Some of the natural predators of the seals are great white sharks, sevengill sharks and humans. Even though the hunting of the seals was outlawed in 1894 human activity is still their biggest threat, the seals get stuck in fishing nets and trash that has been dumped into the ocean. Since the seals were protected after they were hunted to near extinction in 1894, the populations have increased each year across New Zealand and studies indicate it will continue. As the sun set the seals slipped away into the waters for their nightly hunt and we left for the cafe.