It’s Friday and even though we don’t get the weekend off, I’m feeling frivolous. So this afternoon I went to Whalers Bay which is fast becoming my favourite place on the Island. It has the most amazing rocky platforms on which almost nothing grows. As we’ve had such a run of gentle weather it is hard to imagine it, but when the sea gets rough this is part of the intertidal spray zone and it is too salty and too disturbed for any soil to build up and the forest plants to grow. Instead it is home to a massive array of lichens, which aren’t actually plants but are a “joint venture” between a fungus, which provides the structure, and either an alga or a cyanobacterium which does the photosynthesis and provides the nutrients. This type of joint venture, where both of the partners get a benefit from the arrangement is called a symbiosis.
Anyway, lichens come in a huge range of colours and sizes, as you can see. There were also some bigger plants round here which seem to be able to survive in cracks in the rocks.
While I was taking photos of lichens, the NZ shore plovers were patrolling the area, squeaking at me. With their white headband of feathers we refer to them as Andre Agassis, as they look like they are ready to play a tennis match. They used to live all around the NZ shores but due to introduced mammals they are ONLY found here on Rangatira and a few are found on the Western Reef. These wee birds are even more endangered than the black robins now. I would just love for the rest of NZ to be able to see these chaps as they are so earnest and endearing.
Shoreplover
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