NATURE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3195, 9 June 1915, Page 77

NATURE NOTES.

XVII.—LIFE AT THE SEASIDE,

By G. M. Thomson, F.L.S

As a general rule there is much less wind in the winter months than during the warmer periods of the year, and as a consequence the surface of the sea is very frequently still, and the rock-pools are comparatively clear. Marine zoology can thus be carried on quite as well, if not better, in winter than in summer. It may be well, then, to devote some of these Nature Notes to the interesting marine and seashore life, as these can be so readily observed at this time of year by those who live near the coast.

Let us begin with the birds which frequent our shores. If we were to ask the man in the street what birds are to be seen on the coast he would probably tell us that there were only gulls and shags, or, if he had been on a voyage outside Otago Heads, he might add albatross or mollymawks. But anyone who walks on little frequented portions of the coast, or who goes out to the open sea in a fishing boat or trawler, knows that there are very many more birds to be met with, some permanent residents and some as migrants or visitors from afar.

The gulls are certainly the commonest of our shore birds, the large, black-backed gull (Larus dominicanus) and the smaller red-billed or mackerel gull (L. scopulinus) being equally abundant. The young birds are easily distinguished by their brown or grey colour, which gets mottled with white as they grow older. The gulls not only feed on crabs, shellfish, and fish which they are able to catch, but they arc also great shore scavengers, eating everything edible which the sea casts up on the beaches. These birds are not confined to the coast; they are also found inland in large numbers, and great colonies occur in swamp and bog areas where they nest many miles from the sea. They take the place of the crows of the Old Country, and have learned to follow the plough as it turns over the furrows, exposing worms, snails, and fat grubs, which rejoice the heart of the gull. They also feed on dead sheep, and are occasionally responsible for the death of feeble lambs. Some people who call themselves sportsmen shoot gulls for the mere pleasure of knocking down something that is flying. This is a brutal practice, and offensive to every lover of Nature. Killing for killing’s sake is a cruel and degrading pastime. Frequently associated with gulls are the smaller and more graceful birds known as terns, or sea swallows. There are five species found in New Zealand, but only, one or two are common. They are very graceful birds, with a light hovering way of sailing through the air, until they see a. small fish or other prey near the surface of the sea, when they poise themselves and dart down on it with great rapidity. They frequently hover over newly-ploughed fields, and in some districts breed in inland riverbeds and waste areas. I was surprised to find in Whangerei and other towns in the far north of the North Island that terns seemed to take the place of sparrows in the suburban roads and meadows. The cormorants, belonging to the genus Phalacrocorax, are all popularly termed shags, and there are no fewer than 15 species in this country. Most of them live and breed among the ro-CKS on the seashoie , but many of "'them live in large “rookeries” or “shaggevies” on the inland streams, and these are a source of great concern to the trout-fishers and the various acclimatisation societies, which annuallv nay considerable . sums for their destruction. Some of the shags, particularly the crested species, are really beautifully-plumaged birds; but if you'ever skin a shag you will he like the man mentioned by David Hamm who killed a skunk, and hated hisself for a week arterwards.” They have a particularly offensive smell. Shags are greedy birdsj and account for large numbers of fish, which they show great dexterity in pursuing. They can swim under water for 60 yards or more at a groat pace. The commonest shag in Otago is the spotted shag (P. pmictalus); but the large black shag (P. carbo) is also very common. This latter species is a very widely distributed bird, and is found in very many parts of the world.

Probably at one time penguins were common round our coasts; but they have become comparatively rare as human beings became more abundant. But blue penguins still occur on many rocky parts of the coast, for example on the seaward

side of the Otago Peninsula. They come ashore to breed about September, the young ones come out in November, and they all leave the coast by March, probably migrating to the south for the winter. This species makes long burrows, at the bottom of which it lays two eggs. A favourite breeding place 20 years ago was on the sea face at Sandvmount. Intruders on their nests get most severely bitten.

Another bird met with on mud flats and sand spits, which is not nearly so abundant on the frequented parts of the coast as it used to be, is the oyster catcher. This is such a distinctive bird, with its plumage black above and white beneath and its bill and legs bright red, that if once seen it is easily recognised again. They are especially common and noticeable in winter time, when they gather together in considerable flocks, and their restless movements and clamorous cries attract the attention of the observer. In spring they separate into pairs, and move inland to their breeding grounds, which are usually near streams.

A number of migratory birds are met with on the shores during our summer months, including the sandpipers, plovers, godwits and others; but they are not to be seen at this time of year, as their breeding grounds are in the Northern Hemisphere. They thus enjoy two summers in the year,’ and escape the rigours of winter.

I cannot deal with all the birds to be met with on the coast or those which are met with out at sea; but it is interesting to observe that one species always to be seen off Otago Heads is the albatross (Diomedea exulans). I do not think they breed on this coast; but a vessel hardly gets outside the port of Otago without seeing one or more of these beautiful birds sailing with outstretched and motionless wings over the surface of the sea, “now rising high in the air, now, with a bold sweep and wings inclined at a high angle with the horizon, descending until the tip of the lower wing almost touches the crests of the waves as he skims over them.” Albatrosses never dive, nor even plunge the head under water; but they frequently rest on the surface and ride triumphantly over the heaviest swell of the sea.

In the early days of settlement in New Zealand dwellers by the seashore were farniiar with the visits of whales, seals, and dolphins, and the abundance of these animals led to the establishment of whaling stations along the coast. Waikouaiti was founded originally as such a settlement bv the late John Jones, of Sydney, more than 70 years ago, and another wellknown station in much later times was at Harrington Point, inside of Otago Heads. But whales and seals are now rare, and have been driven far from our coasts, so that very few of our young people have ever seen them. A few years ago a solitary fur-seal lived in one of the bays close to the Portobello hatchery, and could be seen sunning itself on the beach almost any day. It was comparatively tame, and did not appear to be disturbed bv the neighbourhood of visitors. One day it disappeared as quietly as it came. Seals are nominally protected on our coasts; but the protection has come too late, and it is like a case of locking the stable door after the steed has been stolen.

No less than 22 species of cetaceans have been recorded from New Zealand waters, but the only one commonly met with on the coast of Otago is the common porpoise. The best way to see porpoises is to observe them from high rocks or cliffs. I have sat on the top of cliffs at Otago Heads and watched them frolicking in the tideway a hundred feet beneath me. It is not every- clay that they are to be seen, but when a school of them is abont they are most interesting creatures to watch. I have called their movements “frolicking,” but it is merely their normal means of progression, as they go plunging through the water near the surface, bounding out from time to time to breathe. Being mammals, furnished with lungs and not gills, they must come to the surface at short intervals. I do not know how often they do this or for how long a period they can remain under water without breathing. For it must be remembered that whales, porpoises, and all cetaceans can be drowned just as a man can be be drowned, and that this result must follow if they cannot rise to the surface to breathe.

The same point of vantage which enables one to watch porpoises is specially fitted also to observe barracouta fishing. There is no branch of the piscatorial art and industry which requires less preparation and expenditure of time and material than this. It requires no nets, long lines, hooks, or baits. The rod is a stout manuka or other strong stick about 4ft long, to which is attached about 2ft of stout cord and a piece of red wood about 4in long, from which a nail projects obliquely backwards. Some fishermen fasten the wood to about 6in of wire, as the fish has a most formidable array of sharp teeth, and can easily bite the cord through if it should get an extra big mouthful. Whenever the men sec a school of barracouta approach, they whip in their oars, and, standing one near the bow and another near the stern of the boat, grasp the short rods, and, plunging the end in the water, begin to rapidly swing the line and bait round and round. The fish dash at the meco of wood, snapping fiercely at it, are caught by the nail, and whipped into the boat before they can disengage their jaws from it. As loner as the shoal is passing the men whip the water vigorously, and I have seen as many as three fish caught per minute on each line. But the excitement lasts only a few minutes, and then the oars are once more resumed till the same or another shoal is met with. I never saw anything so- quick in the fishing line as the catching of barracouta. But it Is a most erratic business. There are times when the fish are to be had for the talc mg, and then come periods when they are not to be seen on the coast at all. But they are never really absent from our waters, for the young fish are to he met with in the bays and estuaries every

autumn. When seine-netting in Otagt Harbour I have often seen them, active, wide-eyed, ferocious-looking little fellows from 9in to Ift long. The life-history of the barracoota has never been worked out, and as the lish are practically never found with ripe ova, it will probably do a very difficult process to follow all the stages.

I do not propose to describe here the various fishes which occur in cur seas, but only to refer to those which people who are not fishermen can sec for themselves at the seaside. The small boy at the piers and jetties catches certain fish at different times of the year, while he who can fish off rocks in deep water can command a greater range of sport. One reason of this is that the shallow waters of our harbours, especially in the south, become very cold in winter, and most of the larger fish move cut into deeper water, while the temperature of the ocean water remains much more nearly uniform all the year round. The east coast of Otago is bathed by a cold current from the Southern Ocean, the temperature of which does not rise above 55deg in summer, but never sinks below 48deg in winter. When the temperature falls to 42deg most fish get sluggish and cease to feed, and that is probably the reason why blue cod, trumpeter, and other fish are to be caught in the shallow harbours in summer, but never in winter. Most of the fish caught off jetties inside harbours are young and quite immature, such, as red cod, young warehow (which is always called trevalli in Dunedin), and others. One of the most familiar is the so-called mullet (Agonostoma fosteri). This is not a true mullet at all. It is more nearly allied to the herring of the Home waters, and in the north is called the Picton herring. It is quite distinct also from the kanae or mullet of the Auckland Peninsula. This fine fish is common in the estuaries and harbours of the north end of the North Island, and, while it is commonly caught by nets and lines, it is also taken in great numbers by a device so simple that people who have not seen it ore apt to class any account of it as “a fish story.” Yet I shall narrate it, even at the risk of being doubted. If those fishing for kanae in one of those estnrial rivers which abound in the. north, such as in the Kaipara, Hokianga, or Whangarei Harbours or in the Bay of Islands, go in a boat at night, and paddle slowly along the edge of the mangrove swamps, the fish jump out of the water in numbers, and very many land in the boat. They are fine, handsome fish, weighing from 11b upwards, and on a favourable night when the water is still and the air soft and mild 501 b and more can bo taken in. a very short time. It is the easiest kind of fishing 1 know. I do not know why the fish jump; but it would be interesting to investigate the reason. The kanae is a very fat fish—l think one of the best in New Zealand, —and is so abundant that several canning factories have been established to deal with it at Kaipara and elsewhere. 1 have said that the young red cod, which are so abundant in the harbours, in the late autumn and early winter months are young, immature fish —probably only a* year or two old, though their ago is a surmise. We have no knowledge of the spawning habits of the adult red cod, for while we get groper roe (not quite mature, however) and warehou roe, and find well-developed roes in the soles and flounders in the winter time, no one ever found a red cod with, ripe eggs. Perhaps it is a deep-sea fish; but it is quite clear that wo have a meat deal to learn about it yet. The young fish occur inshore in vast quantities, and appear to be so voracious that they eat everything they can swallow which comes their way. Records have been kept for some years at Portobello Hatchery, and they make amusing reading. All sorts of smaller fish, including little ones of their own kind, crustaceans (especially whalefeed) shellfish, squid, and worms are swallowed. Anything thrown overboard from a passing vessel or from one lying in port is food for this voracious and gargantuan appetite. The record includes meat, bones, peelings of potatoes and turnips, and in the case of one caught some miles off Cape Saunders, the head of a rooster—probably thrown overboard from a passing steamer —was found. The wanderer on the seabeach. often finds, fish thrown up by the sea. At this time of year on cold, perfectly stiff nio-hts frost fish sometimes come ashore on° the sandy beaches, and if one is particularly spiw in the morning and gets out before the gulls are about, lie may secure one of these very delectable fishes. But I think the subject of the frost fish and of other creatures which come ashore in calm weather might be left to another note, as the whole question is a very interesting one.