Research Diary

First day on the mission. A team of four – Jeff, Robin, Thomas & Hannah – head toward South Bay to establish camp there before returning in the evening. Klemens and Bianca leave shortly thereafter to survey the cliffs between Stella and Anchorage Bay for Light-mantled Sooty Albatross nests. Dave will map the penguin colony in Anchorage Bay and determine progress of the breeding season, before laying out a network of tracking tunnels to monitor potential mouse incursion after the successful eradication in 2014.

But first… complete our daily sched with the mainland that we are all okay. While this used to be done via VHF radios or more recently satellite phones, Starlink offers a new convenient method – Whatsapp.

The South Bay team leave around 10am and after 30 minutes of reasonable progress run into the infamous Antipodes Islands tussock country that makes walking a nightmare. The tussock is growing so tall that it gives the walker two options – to balance on top of the tussock to try to take one wobbly step after the other to get from tussock to tussock or walk between the tussock plants that are often chest high. Both options make for very slow progress and drain the energy out of the party quick. Thick fog and unfamiliarity with the island make it difficult for the team to find the most suitable route towards the South.

By midday, they hear a penguin cacophony somewhere in the fog which means that the Orde Lees colony in the west of the island is not too far off. Not at all the direction they had planned to go, but nevertheless enticing enough to push towards the penguin noise. Just after midday, the team find themselves on the top of a cliff overlooking the penguin colony in the distance. The colony looks impressive and takes up a rock platform at the base of a steep cliff.

The majority of nests are Erect-crested penguins with a group of Rockhopper penguins lined up at the base of a rock overhang some way up the cliff. Overall a rough estimate of 2000 pairs is made. Thomas and Hannah decide to fly a manual drone mission, but the extent, shape and topography of the colony make it difficult for the pilot to get bearings. It is, however, clear that the drone missions must be rethought as the terrain poses significant problems for the standard way drone missions are flown. Just before 1pm the team continues their trek to the South.

Progress is slowed not only by tussock areas but also increasingly fern patches that are just as difficult to traverse. By 2pm, the team realizes that the involuntary detour to Orde Lees cost them the couple of hours it would need to get to the South today. They decide to reach the central plateau and stash the camping gear about two thirds of the way to the South before making their way back to the hut. As the afternoon progresses, the difficult walking conditions slowly but surely drain the energy out of the team. They develop a general rule of thumb by which albatross nests dotted around in the vegetation are a good indicator for reasonably walk-able terrain, while the absence of open seabird burrows is a sure indicator for terrible conditions.

Each an every step they take is followed by Reischek’s and Antipodean parakeets, the latter potentially eyeing up one or two of the tired team member for later consumption, should they succumb to the hardship of the trail.

Close to the top of Mt Galloway, the team comes across what looks like a Giant Petrel crèche where several petrel chicks have bunched up in the tussock with three or four adults standing guard.

During a much needed water break, the team is approached by an adult Antipodean albatross which after several attempts takes flight into the clearing mist. The last two hours back to the hut remain an incredible slog. The southern party returns to the hut exhausted and smelly by 7pm.

Klemens and Bianca also have an eventful day. Scrambling along the top of the cliffs between Stella Bay, Reef Point and Anchorage Bay turns out just as arduous as what the southern team experiences. Over the course of three hours, the two find a total of 3 light-mantled sooty albatross nests.

Meanwhile, Dave mapped the part of the Anchorage Bay Erect-crested penguin colony closest to the hut. About two thirds of the nests are still on eggs, the other nests have generally very small chicks that have just hatched. So it will be another three or four days before we can start deploying GPS dive loggers on chick rearing female penguins. The Rockhopper penguins are about two weeks behind. In the afternoon, Dave ran several tracking tunnel lines radiating out from the hut. Hopefully these tunnels will not pick up any mustelid activity.

In the evening the whole team discusses how to proceed from here. While the work on the Bounty Islands was straight forward and could be completed as planned, we will have to improvise quite a bit more on the Antipodes. For one, access to the south of the island is far more difficult that anticipated. That will have an effect on what we can do down there. We definitely want tracking data form down there. But at the same time, we want to reduce the number of trips we need to do across the island to n absolute minimum. Blood sampling will also have to be done with no frills – carrying centrifuges across the island is a less then appealing prospect. Drone missions will have to be toned down to the essential sites first before we can even start to think about covering additional sites around the island. How accessible these sites will be is another question.

The second day on the island is primarily used to get set up in and around the hut. The solar panels are taken out of the castaway depot and installed…

…a new pole mount for the Starlink unit is installed on the roof…

…the main access paths are cleared around the hut with an industrial-grade weed eater…

…water supplies are checked and the hut’s spouting is reconnected – not that this seems to make much of a difference, as there has yet to fall a spot of rain. Instead it is yet another misty day.

In the morning, Richie and James come over from the Evohe, for another few hours of albatross photography and VR video recording. They get back to the hut around lunchtime and we help them get their gear down to the rock platform in Anchorage Bay where Simon is already waiting.

It is the final good bye as the Evohe weighs the anchor after lunch and disappears into the fog. We are on our own. In the late afternoon, we venture through the tussock towards Stella Bay. although just about 100m to the East of the hut, it takes us almost 30 minutes to get there. The chest deep tussock makes moving about truly challenging. in Stella Bay we are somewhat baffled by the low number of penguins breeding here. Instead of the 222+ nest that were here in 2014, we only see a bit over 60 nests. Not good.

Before long the day comes to a close. Starlink operates really well providing us with broadband internet which most of the team use for video chats with friends and families.

Misty conditions in the morning. The day begins with a birthday chant for Klemens. At around 8am we lift the anchor and steam across to Bollons Island. The steepness of the submerged crater make it hard to imagine that there are penguin colonies on its slopes. The first colony we spot is on Archway Island, essentially part of the crater but separated from main Bollons by a narrow gap.

The penguin colony is sitting halfway up the southern side of the island connected to the sea by a rock slope. Tiny white dots are moving up and down that slope while we sit on deck of the Evohe and observe through our binoculars.

There is a bit of drizzle in the air so that we are unsure whether flying the drone is an option. While we still weigh our options, Robin spots another penguin colony in what appears to be the most unlikely place on Bollons Island, about two thirds the way up the inner crater wall. How they get there, we don’t know. Eventually, Richie launches his drone and scouts the Archway Island colony before flying over to t the Bollons colony to take a series of photos for us to count birds. There seem to be Rockhoppers mingling with the Erect-crested penguins.

Thomas flies a full island survey with his drone and shoots the extent of the Archway colony manually. Around 9.30am the Evohe steams back to Anchorage Bay. Before the grand unloading begins, Ros presents Klemens with a gorgeous chocolate cake.

Around 10.30am Thomas and Dave are the first ones to be dropped with James and Richie in Hut Cove, where a bit of surf makes for a safe yet wet landing.

Elephant seals are spreadeagled on the boulder beach. It takes about 45 minutes to rig the flying fox from the timber A-frame on top of the cliff down to the beach. In the interim, the rest of the team has arrived and the crew of the Evohe start ferrying our gear – most of it stashed in green and yellow buckets – to the landing where Jeff and Robin stand in waist deep water to received the gear. Eventually, the gear is transferred into a net which dangles from a pulley system with the end of the rope being pulled by Dave, Thomas, Jeff and Hannah, while Robin, Bianca and Klemens take care of the loading of the empty net. The transfer is a laborious project, and takes about 3 hours to complete.

By 2.30pm the while team is up at the hut re-hydrating. The mist never really lifts but it is still warm. All gear is finally transferred into the hut, the doors closed and each and every container and bag opened to check for any stow away rodents. The rest of the day is taken up by sorting food into the pantry and getting the sleeping arrangements sorted.

And early dinner around 5.30pm after which Thomas is keen to test of the Starlink system works. Using one of the window blonds as a base the Starlink dish is installed in front of the hut and powered off the generator. At 7pm, broadband internet connection is established converting each of the team members into screen junkies that text or video chat with their families and friends. A long day ends with a round if Scotch to drink on Klemen’s health and a general hut induction for the team.

We spent another night at the anchorage at the northern end of the channel between Proclamation and Spider. Early sun on Spider Island is replaced by misty conditions around 8am. By 9.30am the Evohe raises and raises the anchor. Plan is to fly Molly Cap and North Rock drone missions from the boat. If we pull those two off, we have managed to our bonus missions done as well.

Mist dispersed by a freshening northerly breeze. Molly Cap successfully surveyed despite rising wind. Launch and catch of the unit done by Richie Robinson, as this requires a degree of experience that our drone pilots Thomas and Hannah so far had no chance of making.

After recovery of drone and exchange of battery and SD card we fly the final Bounty Island mission – North Rock. Goes even smoother as wind drops again. All 13 main islands of the Bounty archipelago surveyed by 11am!

Evohe sets course to the Antipodes in calm conditions with hardly an wind. Overcast and warm. Bounties disappear behind the horizon by 1pm. Spotted the first Light-mantled Sooty albatrosses as if our next destination is calling us. ETA Antipodes: some time after midnight.

Again misty conditions but although the roll of the Evohe appears minor we can make out massive swells swoosh around the base of Proclamation Island. First attempt of a group landing around 9.30am as fog starts to lift aborted because of the ‘scary’ lift at the island. Dinghy skipper Murray reckons it can be done but it won’t be easy. Decide to wait another couple of hours.

Next attempt by James, Richie, Jeff and Robin more successful but slow as the dinghy has to time people and gear drop-off between series of huge swells. After dinghy returns to Evohe, Thomas and Dave hop in with Steve Kafka and mate Simon to check out potential landing spots on Depot. Idea is to fly the Centre Group drone missions from there as team will be about 300 m closer to Funnel than on Proclamation. But low tide and exposed bull kelp make that prospect less appealing to Thomas and Dave. Western slopes of Depot appear crowded with albatross, penguins and seals. Penguin and Ranfurly Islands Shelter these slopes from southwest storms. But not enough so to convince the team to jump ashore in the heaving conditions – especially without an emergency gear should they get stuck on the island. Back through the Spider channel and around to the Proclamation landing where a somewhat nerve wrecking landing was achieved.

Up top, Robin and Jeff are finishing up the penguin ground counts resulting in a total of 2,776 Erect-crested penguin nests on Proclamation Island. After discussion with Richie, Thomas decides to fly drone missions to Funnel Island from Proclamation – across a stretch of 1.5 km of open water. Thomas has never flown such far ranging missions so is very apprehensive but gives it a whirl. First attempt gets the drone into the mission area after a 5 minute flight, but mission settings incorrect with drone surveying the island and too great altitude. Drone recalled and returns safely after 15 minutes. The crossings to Funnel cost about 20% of battery power. Between 1 pm and 3pm combined missions of Funnel and Prion Islands, as well as single missions for Corner and Castle Island are successfully completed – much to Thomas’s relief. The Centre Island Group is in the bag!

As light conditions are perfect – flat light with no shadows, decision is made to re-do Depot Island with the drone. By 3pm rest of the team (minus Bianca, Jeff accidentally put on her wet weather gear leaving her only his several sizes smaller stuff) plus Ros and Murray arrive at the top Plateau. Klemens, Jeff and Robin get on with finishing blood sampling while Hannah searches for albatrosses with GLS tags.

Finds two birds of which one disappears while the first unit is recovered. Thomas and Dave install last trail camera facing Depot Island. Thomas then checks all installed cameras for correct settings and downloads first image data sets.

Meanwhile rest of the team pack up and return to Evohe. Richie and James conduct filmed interview with Thomas for Drone Deploy sponsorship as well as a final RNZ interview before the last three on the island make their way down to the landing, removing all guide lines en route. Richie last to hop off the island. Back on the Evohe by 7.30pm.

We started the day adrift some 12 north of Bounties. Misty conditions with poor visibility. Sea continues to be very sloppy with waves coming seemingly from all directions. Started engines around 7 am and arrived back at the Bounties by 8 am. Westerly wind of 10-15 knots and bumpy seas. The islands are invisible in the fog until we are right in between them. Spent the whole morning anchored between Depot and Funnel Island. The Evohe is frequently rocked by violent seas.  Steve and Simon checked out the landings with the dinghy but returned quickly – far too dangerous to land.

Toyed with the idea of flying the Funnel mission from the boat when mist lifted around lunchtime. But launching and catching the unit in these conditions very difficult and dangerous. So decided against it. Found out that DOC has not updated our entry permit so that we are not allowed to deploy a time lapse cameras on Depot – of course. Steamed to the Proclamation anchorage in the afternoon. Massive surges around the island underlined that there was no way we could have landed today. So, a second day of twiddling thumbs.

We sailed all day in circles some 20nm north of Bounties. Seas too rough to stay anywhere near the islands. A lot of time spent in our bunks while the Evohe is hit now and again by big waves that bang loudly against hull. It was the same all through the night so that none of us got much sleep. A pod of common dolphins follows the Evohe for about 30 minutes. No improvement in sea conditions all day but forecast suggests that conditions may improve tomorrow.

We get an early start on a gorgeous day. Up on the top of Proclamation by 8.30am.

Flying drone missions with two units in the air while being filmed with the NZ Geo 360° VR camera doing so. Got Proclamation and Depot done despite a stiff breeze with gusts of up to 20 knots by 10am.

Packed up drones and started different tasks. Klemens, Jeff and Bianca down to the penguin landing to collect blood samples; Robin off to the western end to start penguin ground counts.

Hannah does the same starting in the East for Albatross.

Dave & Thomas; install time lapse camera rock bolts, but adhesive need to set for a couple of hours so both return to top of the islands by lunchtime.

Despite the forecast saying differently, the wind has dropped to about 10 knots from the Southwest. Decide to fly further drone missions. Within 2 hours Penguin, Ruatara and Lion Island are completed – we have the main group in the bag! Between 2pm and 4pm deployed all time lapse cameras. In the process encountered four Albatross carrying GLS loggers.

Blood team managed to get their sample size up to 20 birds. Robin’s penguin count got up to 1500 pairs and Hannah’s Albatross count 350 nests by the time we have to get off the island around 5 pm. Wind has picked up and turned northwest in the afternoon.

Bumpy ride in dinghy to Evohe. Will not be able to spend the night at Bounties. Instead started sailing north by night fall.

We arrive at Bounty Islands around midday after another lumpy day steaming under sail east. Clouds burn away and the islands greet us under gorgeous blue skies.

After Richie any James sent the 360° drone for a spin over the channel between Proclamation and Spider Island, we all gear up for our first landing. Swell at the Proclamation landing site in Bucket Cove reasonably minor. Thomas, James, and Richie go ashore first to rig some guide lines up the steep cliff but by 2pm entire team plus most of the Evohe crew landed on the island.

First impression – a lot more albatross on the ground than during the 2019 visit. In many albatross nests, chicks were hatching so it could be that pairs now together at nest whereas in 2019 we were on the island 3 weeks earlier in the season, i.e. still firmly in egg incubation. Base Plateau on top of island overrun by albatross.

Establish ourselves (after albatrosses had vacated the plateau reluctantly) and start flying first drone missions with two units. Hannah with spotter Bianca covers Proclamation, Thomas and spotter Robin take care of Tunnel, Ranfurly and Spider. Even try to cover Depot, but tablet batteries run out so that only about two thirds of the island completed. Meanwhile Jeff, Dave and Klemens start blood sampling arriving penguins down at the northern main landing. Only four samples collected before we all return to the Evohe around 7.30pm.

After quarantine of our expedition equipment in Invercargill we drove everything up to Dunedin to load it on the Evohe yesterday.

There is no rush to get out of port so Thomas takes the morning to run some final errands before the entire team assembles aboard the Evohe around 11am.

It is a warm, summery day. At 12.30pm we finally launch in the Bounty-Antipodes Islands 2022 Expedition.

We clear Taiaroa Head at 3pm and head east towards the open ocean where some 800km behind the horizon a cluster of exposed Granit islands covered in seabirds awaits our arrival in a couple of day.