By Dr J Floor Anthoni, 2002
www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/res/kermadec/kermfoto.htm
This section lets you experience the Kermadec
underwater world in full colour. Visit each gallery to submerge yourself
in this wonderful environment. Over 150 images are awaiting your discovery:
sea scapes, groupers, lion fishes, fishes, corals, crustaceans, echinoderms
and molluscs - a representative selection of the most common organisms.
The introduction also gives a visual overview
in the form of a black-felted pinboard containing thumbnails of each image.
From here one can look at individual photos or visit the complete galleries.
(located
on this page) (8 pages)
Snails and the famous giant limpet, but also worms included here. (2
pages)
Note! for best printed results, set your page up with
a left margin of 1.5cm (0.6") and right margin of 1.0cm (0.4")
The whole section covers about 3.5MB, including text,
drawings and over 150 photographs.
For corrections, suggestions and improvements, e-mail
me.
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Rev:20020630,20020719,
Introduction The underwater images shown in these photo galleries
were obtained during an expedition in May 2002. They give a pictorial view,
almost like the underwater experience itself, because they illustrate a
great variety of aspects. Each image is annotated, explaining what it shows,
and altogether, disclosing valuable bits of information - true learning
by experience.
Unfortunately, the marine environment of these islands is still poorly
understood and scientific knowledge scarce. It may take a while before
all creatures have been identified and given their proper scientific names.
Under its biodiversity strategy, New Zealand is actively pursuing its goal
to collect and identify all of its marine and terrestrial species. However,
because the Kermadec Islands are so remote, while accommodating a large
number of unique (endemic) species, this process may take many years, or
even decades. This section will be updated as soon as more scientific information
becomes available.
Visit each gallery by clicking on the head link of each. While studying
the first images on the page, all others are down-loaded as well. Scroll
down the page to see them all. You can also print each gallery, like you
can print this page.
Each photograph has a unique file number (f012345), by which it can
be ordered. See the photo library
for conditions of sale.
The first impression when seeing the underwater
landscape, is that of barrenness. Compared to the densely clad rocky shore
of the New Zealand main islands, the Kermadec shores appear barren, because
the organisms clinging to their rocks are smaller. Instead of large seaweeds
(macroalgae), one finds corals interspersed with matting green and red
algae. The water is too cold for corals to form extensive reefs, but it
is clear, allowing for over 30m visibility. The water moves relentlessly,
powered by large swell curving around the island while penetrating every
sheltered nook. Sea currents are unexpectedly strong, and planktonic food
is scarce. Yet one can encounter dense schools of fish and large predators
as well. The rocks are volcanic, and often too soft to give a safe holdfast
for large organisms like corals and sponges, but glorious exceptions can
be found.
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
f031027: Grey knife fish
swimming close to the surface
For their giant groupers alone, these islands
are worth visiting. Some are over 50kg and 50 years old. They can grow
even larger and older. Miraculously, these impressive, intelligent and
inquisitive fish have been spared their extinction, as they disappeared
almost everywhere else in the world, including the main islands of New
Zealand. Now that they are fully protected, their human visitors behave
in friendly ways, a welcome change in the boredom of their fishy lives.
Known as spotted black groupers SBG (Epinephelus daemelii) these
large fish are limited to the subtropical waters of northern New Zealand,
Norfolk Island and the Kermadecs, which amounts to a very small habitat
area on the globe. This makes them rare.
Born as females, the larger groupers turn into
males later in life, surrounding themselves with harems of half a dozen
or more smaller females. Groupers are usually found where the sandy bottom
meets the rocky shore, and where a cave or sheltering canyon is nearby.
The photos we selected, show how these large
fish interact with snorkeldivers. Enjoy your swim!
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
f031724: A freediver comes
down to meet large White-lip
f031607: White-lip the
large male grouper comes for a feed
Lion fishes or firefishes occur in all tropical
seas. They are small predators extravagantly equipped with wings, folded
like petticoats. They represent a pinnacle in evolution, both in shape
and in the way they live. Their elaborate fins do not allow them to move
fast, but enable them to herd smaller fish into corners of the reef, or
to even catch these inside their many frills. Let there be no mistake,
it is a fierce predator. Unlike scorpionfishes who have lost their swim
bladders, the lionfishes can hover above the rocks, using their many ailerons
for hang-gliding. They can even do this upside down! Meeting these fish
and observing them, defies imagination, hence the many images shown here.
The lionfish shown here has been identified as Pterois volitans.
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
Divers familiar with the northern waters of New
Zealand, will recognise many of the fishes of the Kermadec islands, because
in some years their larvae are lucky enough to make the journey south to
settle along the NE coast of NZ. But such intrusions are few and far between(and
mainly in the warmer years before 1970), and not being able to propagate,
their numbers dwindle, and they disappear again. But here at the Kermadecs,
life is not easy either, reason why many fishes found here are niche feeders,
living a long life on little food.
But their variety is stunning, far too large
to capture in a single visit. Here are the most common ones.
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
For New Zealanders, the Kermadecs are interesting
because the seascape is dominated by corals rather than large seaweeds.
This section shows the variety in coelentherates (flower animals)
found there, ranging from sun-loving corals to gorgonians and anemones.
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
Lobsters, shrimps and crabs are some of the most
hunted species, and in order to survive, they have developed amazing strategies
to remain undetected or to to surround themselves with bastions, not built
by themselves. It requires much time and patience to capture these animals
on film, even though many won't run away.
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
The Kermadec Islands have a large variety of echinoderms.
They play an important role in the fragile ecology of the islands. The
most obvious and common ones are shown in this gallery.
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
The Kermadecs do not have many species of mollusc,
but the giant limpet makes up for that. It is found only here, and is perhaps
the largest limpet on Earth (there is a larger one in Chile).
In this section also other lower animals like
worms.
Click on the link above or on the
black-felt pinboard bottom right, in order to visit the complete gallery.
