Expedition Team
Expedition October/November 2015
The Great Humpback Whale Trail Expedition Team
Rémi Dodemont
Operation Cétacés, New Caledonia
Mark Miller
James Cook University
The January 2015 Expedition Team
Sally Reader
Technical Officer, Ichthyology Collection Australian Museum
Richard Robinson
Underwater photographer
www.depth.co.nz
Irene Middleton
Biosecurity Officer Aquatics at Northland Regional Council
The 2013 Expedition Team
The 2011 Expedition Team
Led by Auckland Museum fish specialist Dr Tom Trnski, the expedition team includes scientists from Auckland Museum, Te Papa, the Department of Conservation (DoC), and NIWA.
An underwater photographer, scientific communicator and journalist, and a film-maker are also part of the 20-strong crew.
Clinton Duffy
Scientific Officer (Marine Species), Marine Conservation Team Department of Conservation
Malcolm Francis
Principal Scientist National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
What we hope to find out
The expedition team want to know what species occur on the Kermadec islands. The answer to this fundamental question will allow them to answer other questions:
- Which nearby islands have the same species?
- For which species are the Kermadecs a stepping stone on to New Zealand?
- Are populations isolated from, or connected to other populations at surrounding islands?
Their mission is to:
- Discover and document new marine species and new records of marine species.
- Document the marine biodiversity of the Kermadec Islands focussing on marine plants and animals within 200m of the surface, and on species occuring to 1,000m.
- Determine the source of the closest relatives of the Kermadec populations.
- Provide a baseline record of species diversity against which to monitor changes over time. This will be important to track changes in species composition possibly resulting from global warming changes to regional water temperatures and currents.
Wish them luck!
An intrepid journey of this nature is weather dependent. Visiting the smaller islands will be difficult if the sea conditions are too rough. There is nowhere to hide if the wind is strong or the swell is large. Let’s hope for calm weather.
