OCEANIC BIRD LIFE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17409, 6 November 1930, Page 12

OCEANIC BIRD LIFE

THE DANA EXPEDITION £ IN NEW ZEALAND WATERS LONDON, Sept. 5. The Danish research ship Dana, sent out for a two years’ expedition round the world, by the Carlsberg Foundation in Copenhagen, under the leadership of Professor Jobs Schmidt, director of the Carlsberg Laboratory, spent the 'months of December, 1928, anu January, 1929, in New Zealand waters. From January 2 to 13 investigations were carried out in the waters east, of New Zealand on a- cruise, going out from Auckland in a southerly direction to a position situated about 49deg. S. lat, and 177 deg. E. long., from there going west to about 172 deg. E. long., and farthest north along the east- coast of the South Island to Wellington. An account of the experiences in New Zealand waters is given by Dr. P. Jespersen, of Copenhagen, in the issue of August 23 of tho journal Nature. “As we had with us in New Zealand waters tho New Zealand geologist, Mr. K. A. Falla, a keen and clever ornithologist, on board the Dana as guest,” says the writer, “the ornithological observations on this cruise were made with a higher degree of accuracy ’ than in ordinary circumstances. In very iew areas of the world are the birds .belonging to the order Tubinares represented by so many different species as in the New Zealand waters, and as Mr. Falla has especially studied these birds, it is first of all due to his knowledge about these oceanic birds that the ornithological observations were so extensive on this particular cruise.” With the aid of diagrams and maps Dr. Jespersen shows that the two species, the pale-footed shearwater (puffinhs car neipes) and Codk’s petrel (pterodroma eooki), both of which were observed in large numbers in the waters round tho north coast of the North Island, already ceased to appear when they passed off the East Cape. Both species are also ’only known to breed on islets north of this point. ' Other northern breeding species extend their distribution more to the south. In Cook Strait they thus found the southern limit for the appearance of the white-faced storm petrel (pelagodroma marina), but in regard to this species it must be mentioned that its breeding area is not restricted to the North Island of New Zealand, as it is also noted as breeding on Chatham and Auckland Islands. '“The southern limit shown, therefore, apparently only accounts for the New Zealand breeding specimens .of this species. A little more to tho south (about 42deg. south) we find the most southern occurrence of the great-winged petrel (pterodroma macroptera), and the grey-backed shearwater (puffinus bulleri) is observed,as far south as off Banks Peninsula (about 44deg. south).. Both the two last-named species are in these regions only found breeding on the North Island of New Zealand and surrounding islets. ”—Auckland Herald.