Four go to the beach - 23rd December

We had an afternoon off yesterday. As many of the chicks have fledged and the nest checking takes much less time these days, if we work hard in the mornings there is less to do in the afternoon. So we took the spare time in the afternoon to go paua hunting in Thinornis Bay. Even though we got there just before low tide, the waves were huge, due to the gale-forced winds during the previous few days. The pauas are big in Thinornis Bay. I’ve never seen paua this big before on the mainland. But as no one except researchers land here on Rangatira, they aren’t fished and have plenty of time to grow.

When we collect them, we get only a few and this leaves a population of adults around to keep the generations going. Paua have planktonic larvae, which means that the larvae get carried around in the ocean current, and it’s possible that the larvae can chemically detect areas of rock that are covered with seaweed to settle on. Seaweed is a paua's favourite food. You can find all three of NZ’s paua species here but we were looking for the black- footed paua. There is a commercial fishery for paua in the Chathams with the meat selling for about $100 per kg! And we’ve all seen their shells in tourist shops and probably have some at home too. They are a valuable resource for the Chatham Islands.


The rock pools here are relatively shallow and quite high up the beach too, so finding paua isn’t something which is necessarily going to get you wet and mucky. That is except for today when the waves were cranking in, covering the rocky platform which a few days ago I was walking around with no fear of wet boots.

The sea can be like that. One day it looks benign and as though you’d love to go for a dip, and the next only the local seals feel comfortable surfing in the waves. But we were careful and triumphantly carried back enough paua for a small feast.