Orca Research Center

I just spent an amazing weekend at the Orca Research Center (Orca Reseach Trust), based in Tutukaka, Northland on the North Island.  The center doubles as the home and work place for Dr Ingrid Visser, New Zealand's world renowned Orca expert.
Ingrid was born in New Zealand to Dutch parents and has been studying Orca (Killer Whales) since 1992, she finished her PhD in 2000 and four years ago built the Research Center on the top of a hill in Tutukaka, an hour north of Whangarei.

View from Center

The view from the Center is just perfect

and Orca come right into the Bay at various times of the year.  There are around 200 resident Orca around the New Zealand coast - covering both the North and South Islands and thanks to Ingrid Visser we know that these Orca are the only ones in the world that feed on Stingray.  The Center is run by Ingrid and a small number of volunteers and this is where I hope to become a member of the team.

Volunteering at the center covers all the usual jobs that volunteers undertake with pretty much any organisation, but I like these jobs - you always need to clean and tidy and have things ready and prepared for anything.  I spent most of the weekend cleaning wetsuits inside and out, letting them dry out and then hanging them up so they are ready for volunteers to wear when needed at whale strandings.

The Center has been set up so the back

Dr Ingrid Visser & an Orca

looks out over the Bays and for miles you are looking out over the open sea, it's perfectly situated so that you can see a pod of Orca as soon as they come round a corner and in to view.  Ingrid has a siren for this purpose and every volunteer has a dry pack ready for that siren.  If it sounds you grab your dry bag and jump into the 4x4 to head out with Ingrid and the boat.  She will then spend as long as she can out on the water with the Orca - studying and photographing them.  Considering the Center is run solely by Ingrid with help from such a small number of people, it really is an amazing achievement and I'm glad to be a new comer to it all.  I've loved Orca since I was around 5 years old and have never seen one in the wild but hope to while I'm in New Zealand.

The blue Orca 4x4 and the boat, there is also another Orca Research Trust 4x4.  Like any organisation of this kind the Research Trust is always after volunteers and financial support.  However, due to Ingrid's heavy travelling schedule, it can be very hard for her to find time to allow new volunteers in as she just doesn't have the time and opportunity to show them around and show them what needs to be done.  At present Ingrid is flying constantly between New Zealand and Spain in the fight to free a Orca named Morgan.

Morgan is young Orca (now 6 yrs old) who was found off the coast of Holland in 2010, it was decided that she would be taken in by us humans with the idea that once recovered she woud b released back into the wild.  But after a court battle in Holland Morgan has now been passed to Spain and placed in a marine park to perform for the public - against everything that was promised when she was found.  She is a wild born Orca and should remain so, humans have abused the power they have and have now turned her into a captive Orca all in the name of money.  There is no reason why Morgan can not be released back into the wild and this is where Dr Visser and others are fighting for what is right for Morgan and not humans.  In her present situation, Morgan is being constantly attacked and biten by the other Orca she now resides with, the trainers ignore her and she spends most her time when she is not on show biting and headbutting the concrete around her pool. 
Since around the 1970s it has been illegal to capture Orca for captive, this means it is very hard for places like Sea World et al to get new DNA to help with breeding the captives Orca they do have, as most of them are already related.  Morgan is an excellent way to gain fresh DNA into the captive Orca breeding pool.  Many people's fear is that now Morgan is 6 years old the Spanish parks next move will be to get Morgan pregnant and then claim her unfit for being placed back into the wild therefore cermenting her lifetime sentence in captivity.  The court case in Spain is the last attempt to get Morgan freed and to show the courts that Morgan's family has been recognised and the expertises know exactly where to release her to enable her to re-join her family after all these years.

http://www.orcaresearch.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale
http://www.freemorgan.com/



 



Hauraki Gulf......NZ Common Dolphins

So other than art and photography, I love animals (and books and travelling) and something that is so amazing about New Zealand, other than the geographical aspect of it - and the fact it is the world's only natural playground with so many things to do in one place - it has some wonderful animals of all kind.

I thought I would share some pictures of (New Zealand) Common Dolphins taken in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland , they are just beautiful, so playful and just elegant.  I've watched them feeding and playing around the boat.  I could watch them for hours.....just perfect......

 

About 3 weeks ago just off Takapuna and Browns Bay (North Shore, Auckland) a rare Southern Right Whale came into the Bay and gave birth. Here are a couple of pictures.  She was still spotted around the Hauraki Gulf a week later with the calf.

 

 

Also, on the 24th August along the Northland coast, Tutukaka Harbour, a pod of Orca were spotted having breakfast.

The Orca around New Zealand are the only ones in the world that eat Stingrays.  They are often seen around the Coromandel as well and especially in Stingray Bay - if you go there early in the mornings (6.30am) in a kayak you can see loads of stingray sunning themselves in the shallows and if you are lucky enough to be there at the right time, you can watch the Orca come in and take the stingray.  I'm hoping to be heading out that way again now the Spring is here, so I'll have my camera ready and my fingers crossed.  Just beautiful.

In October I'm all set to do a Marine Mammal Medic course, which once passed will enable me to put myself on to the National Database and be called up for any strandings that are discovered around the two islands.  PRICELESS.

WTF!!

I don't believe it, not only do I forget my password repeatedly but I've also managed to delete around 3 posts, goodness knows what I'm up to!!  I don't know.  I swear as well that everytime I log in they have changed the ways things work and I can't find anything, either that or everytime I log in I forgot what I'm doing.

I did have a little spurt with posts back in May when I was on holiday, maybe I can keep that up again come September as I'm on holiday again.....yeah!!

I have to admit that since being out here in New Zealand - this is the longest period of time ever when I have not done any sport or horse riding - shocking I now and I'm beginning to miss it big time.  Funnily enough I'm not missing the pond hoping to the US and Europe as much as I thought I would so that is cool - and well I think I realise that anytime I fancy making a trip like that it won't be a problem.

I need to purchase a wetsuit soon for my surfing, snorkelling and for the Marine Mammal Medic course I'm due to do in October - I'm looking for that.  Once I've passed the course I'll be put on to the New Zealand national database and will be called up for any whale strandings.

Art/photography - I've been really slow here, I've seen some absoluately fabulous window displays - proper art ones and not your crap fashion type....I took some photos, some I accidently deleted and others I hope to get up here at some point.  I've really been quite busy at work so I haven't had much time for doing anything or catching up with things.

Travelling links - I really should put some links up for places that I would highly recommend from Native American Reservations in the US, North Idaho and Montana to the farm/stables in Portugal.  Man I miss the horses, I don't think there is any smell I love more than horses!

Crafts, knitting and art....

I have to admit there are two things I miss while I'm in New Zealand - my knitting needles/yarn and my sew on patch blanket - both are in storage and I can't get to them anytime soon!  And what is in storage are not things that I can buy out here and start again.  I don't fancy re-buying knitting needles I already own and neither do I want to buy loads more yarn when the yarn I have in the UK is breeding like nobody's business! 

But most of all I miss my sew on patch blanket, this is a blanket I "acquired" from a popular well known airline and started to iron/sew on patches from places I have been all over the world, the blanket in storage is almost full and has patches from all the countries, cities and towns I've visited to all the musuems, zoos, galleries, Native American Tribes, Botanical gardens etc I been to around the world.  I love it and while I've been out here I've collected more patches so I'd love to add them but can't and I don't find starting a fresh blanket until the original blanket is complete. 

But it did get me thinking about some things that I made for some people last year, they were little notice boards which I just thought were a little quirky.  Very simple to make and you can do them in any style you fancy, with any patterns you like or even draw or paint a pattern or picture.  Sadly I can't draw or paint so I tend to find things and styles to do.  But I have some pictures of the boards I made.

This one was I think the third of fourth I may so it was getting easier to decide what to do and how to do it.  I found a wonderful craft store in York, England were I got the bits and pieces from, I hightly recommend the place.



I actually didn't realise there were so many different gingham colours, my friend got me int them because she loves the country farmhouse red/white gingham look.  I can understand why, they are beautiful.

With my knitting I'm on a mission to make a blanket.  The idea is to knit lots of squares in different yarns not just textures but different colours, then when I have a large collection of squares I'll stitch them together into a blanket.  It'll be a crude looking blanket I'm sure but It'll be made by me and will be quite an individual item.  Here are some squares that I have done already.

There are so many different colours and textures, I think it'll be interesting so see the finished product.  Maybe one day I can pop a photo of the blanket on here.

Along with the blanket I hope to one day pop up a photo of my iron/sew on patch too.

I would love to get into more arts and crafts here in New Zealand, get inspired by the Maori arts.  I would like to return to pottery which I haven't done for years.  To would make for a good challenge and certainly an enjoyable one.



Update on life in New Zealand

Having looked back at what I have previouly written, I thought I had better update some things.  Once I arrived in New Zealand I was originally staying in a hostel, but took to trying to find somewhere straight away for me to live by myself.  I found staying in the hostel quite hard, as I can be very shy and I really don't like crowds at all, I'm just not so good with large numbers of people.  I also tend to do my own thing and go my own way, I tend not to follow a crowd or any person and though, like anyone I'm happy in company, I am also happy enjoying my own company - just writing, reading, art/crafts etc - so the hostel was a bit much for me.  House sharing it appears would have put me in pretty much a similiar situation, parties and such stuff, I just don't cope with well.  I'm the last to arrive and the first to leave.

So after 2 weeks in a hostel on Queen Street, in Auckland's CBD, I found an apartment to rent by myself.  I'm still there now and this is going great.  It is still in the CBD and I'm so central to everything, it couldn't be better.  Next I had to find work, I had already decided not to travel around as I want to stay in New Zealand long term, so showing the Kiwi Government that I'm up for earning and paying taxes would look better to them than the travellers/tourists move of fruit picking - again I would have been sleeping in a bunkbarn and I wouldn't have coped to well.  So about two weeks after I got myself my apartment I started going round the temp agencies for work, signing up with as many of them as possible.  In the meantime, I took to voluntary work down at The Auckland City Mission in helping them prepare for Christmas and everything that they would be undertaking in order to help those that collect benefits and don't have much.  By mid December I had myself a job with a Government agency and thankfully I'm still working for them now.  So all is going very well :) I still continued at the Auckland Mission and spent Christmas Day helping out as promised.

During Bank Holidays/long weekends and weekends I try to take off around the North Island for my road trips and exploring the island in the usual way a wandering spirit does.  I've already eyed up places to learn to surf, Muay Thai Kickboxing (not to fight), deep sea fishing and I'm on the lookout for the best places to spot Orca, oh and I do need to find places to return to horse riding and hockey (field).  There is nothing like a fantastic road trip driving around and exploring the open road and the back tracks that make up New Zealand's North Island.  No drive is the same, no view is the same and all of it is absoluately stunning.  My camera is working overtime.

To compliment the wonderful people, views, drives etc there are also so many small musuems and art galleries dotted around that where ever you go, you will find one and they have some stunning stuff in them, mostly from local artists and people you wouldn't have heard of outside of New Zealand.  I'm not an artist myself (neither pencil nor paint are my friends!) but I do go in for other arty/crafty things and I love photography and I certainly love looking and admiring other people's works.

Which brings me to following blog's, which I've never done before - It appears you can't search by subject, or indeed search at all - so I simply use the "next blog" button and add the ones that I like, ones that are new (like me) and any others that take my fancy - may they be art, traveling, animals, books or anything....maybe I can encourage others and others can encourage me and maybe I can make a few friends along the way :)

Happy blogging to all!

Really should get to grips with this blogging stuff!

Wow, I've totally forgotten to add anything to my blog since I last year.  I really should gather myself together and get some stuff in here with photos.  But boy am I having a fabulous time, New Zealand is beautiful and I'm already liking the North Island more than the South, as beautiful as the South Island is (and they are quite different).  I'm presently living on the North Island in Auckland CBD, a city of 1.4 million but it is so spread out it doesn't feel like a city at all, unike say somewhere like Birmingham or London, of which both are very built up places (especially Birmingham), with everyone living on top of each other.

I've been surfing and searching for other people's blogs covering my different interests and it made me realise I should keep this blog going.  But I do forget!  I tend to keep a written diary at times and certainly a photographic one - so I really should try with this one.

Starting from today.....I shall try and update every week or there about.....see if I can manage that and keep up with my road trips.