Tom Iredale wrote of the 1908 Raoul scientific expedition’s indebtedness to the Bell family in his 1910 paper in particular the sons: “who whole-heartedly put themselves at our service, and it is due to their knowledge of avifauna of their

While the expedition team has been active at sea – great to see the results coming through – those of us on shore have been entertained daily and nightly by the whale action offshore. We can see and hear them

Welcome back to Raoul! Today we encountered many more humpbacks than our previous days here, and by far the most sociable and boisterous whales we’ve yet seen. Most of our whales during the last few days have been shy and

Another productive day at the Kermadecs. Literally four seasons in one day (Kermadec style) led to a complete wardrobe change at lunch time for the two boat teams into our winter woollies, including Richie who changed into his dry suit

This morning we arrived off Raoul to be greeted with humpbacks performing, a pod of dolphins’ bow-riding, and plenty of seabirds. The island was a stunning sight as the morning sun slanted across the steep ridges and ravines, with everyone

The Braveheart brought us safely to Raoul Island just after dawn this morning, after passing the southern Kermadecs in the night. We saw several humpbacks breaching as we steamed to our anchorage. Shortly after arrival we dropped our birders

Welcome to the Great Humpback Whale Trail! Currently we are en route to the Kermadec Islands, the northernmost outpost of Aotearoa. On Saturday evening our team sailed from Tauranga in a golden sunset aboard the RV Braveheart, a 39-metre Japanese-built

The seabird team for the Great Humpback Whale Trail Expedition kept a pretty constant watch for seabirds on the run to the Kermadec. The ocean watching, lots of waves, and some great rewards. We saw birds that have been on

We have been silent for the last few days while we steam towards Raoul Island. We arrived yesterday and rushed to squeeze in two dives to do some fish counts and photography. The Braveheart crew dropped off 2 people on