Encounter Foundation

Increasing Knowledge of Dusky Dolphin Behavioral Ecology through Methodological Advancements in Photo-Identification and Suction-cup Tagging

Heidi Pearson is a marine mammal researcher based in Juneau, Alaska. Heidi has previously carried out research on dusky dolphins in a project funded by the Encounter Foundation back in 2015. This project continues her work in understanding the behavioural movement patterns of Kaikoura's dusky dolphins through enhanced efficiency of photo-identification and suction cup tagging. By deploying suction-cup tags Heidi is hoping to track the dusky dolphins during their offshore nighttime movements.

Heidi's previous work revealed that most reactions to tagging attempts were low. Once the tag is attached, the dolphin will be tracked in real time via VHF. If weather conditions or decreasing daylight prevent staying with the animal throughout the entire duration of tag attachment, the research vessel will return to the harbor. The tag will then be retrieved the next day using an Argos goniometer which allows real-time detection of satellite signals from actively transmitting tags.

Another aim of the research is to introduce a newly developed automated cetacean dorsal fin photo-identification algorithm in order to hopefully identify and match dusky dolphins within and between different social groups off Kaikoura. 

The Kaikoura Wildlife Centre Trust, a registered charity established to develop the non-profit Kaikoura Wildlife Hospital & Conservation Centre, is purchasing a portacom in order to establish an interim solution for endangered Hutton’s shearwaters (and emergency cases/critically endangered species). 

Funding is being sought to facilitate a portacom unit to undertake interim wildlife rehabilitation for endangered Hutton's shearwater (Titi), while the Kaikōura Wildlife Hospital & Conservation Centre project continues to be developed.

Trust chairperson,  Sabrina Leucht, said that the quote of $38,300 from Design A Com is the best price (incl. chattels, delivery and GST) the Trust could source, compared to other suppliers. The portable unit would be purchased and installed for the 2023/24 Hutton's breeding season and be utilised from then on.

Johannes Chambon has applied for 13 GPS trackers to track the vulnerable Chatham petrel (Pterodroma axillaris), endemic to the Chatham Islands.Once amongst the most abundant burrowing seabird of the archipelago, but now the destruction of its breeding habitat and introduction of invasive predators has dramatically reduced its population, and its breeding sites are now restricted to only a few locations. Tracking the Chatham petrel with GPS during their breeding season will provide us with invaluable information on their foraging ecology, enabling us to gain insights into their vulnerability to climate change. Johannes aims to track breeding Chatham petrel with GPS loggers to determine at-sea behaviour and distribution of chick-rearing adults, identify the species’ marine habitat preferences and the environmental drivers of the species’ movements, and predict future habitat availability under different climate change scenarios

The NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust is a not-for-profit research organisation committed to the conservation of New Zealand’s whales and dolphins. Their research is focused on ensuring sustainability and recovery, and includes studies of population dynamics, ecology, behaviour, and response to human impacts. The long-term monitoring projects run by the Trust are among the longest-running research studies of cetaceans worldwide.

One of their research vessels, R/V Grampus has a long association with sperm whale research in Kaikoura and after 22 years of faithful service and more than 1,500 survey days covering over 50,000 km of effort, she is becoming increasingly costly to maintain. The funds donated by the Encounter Foundation will go towards the purchase of a replacement vessel (costing a total of $97,579.70), which is due to be completed late this year. The new research vessel will be an Osprey 520CC powered by a Yamaha 90hp outboard. 

The Critically Endangered Chatham Island tāiko (Pterodroma magentae) is one of the rarest seabird species in the world (c. 100 adults). This Chatham Islands endemic was once abundant on several islands of the archipelago. However, the destruction of its breeding habitat and introduction of invasive predators dramatically reduced its population. This project based at the University of Otago, and in collaboration with the Department of Conservation, will involve deploying GPS loggers to determine the relationship between environmental variables and the birds' movements.

This pilot project involves the purchase of 5 GPS tags (nanoFix® GEO+RF from Pathtrack, UK, $1,600 each), one base station ($2,550), and to cover the cost of a return journey to the Chatham Islands from Dunedin ($1,000).

In November 2022, Johannes Chambon will travel to the Chatham Islands to deploy 5 solar-powered GPS loggers. Before deploying tags on breeding birds, they will first be deployed on non-breeders attending the colony during the breeding season (i.e.unpaired birds). They will be deployed for c. 2 weeks before retrieval. If the birds still visit their burrows regularly after deployment, then GPS deployment will be trialed on breeding birds during late chick rearing in March 2023.

The plan is to use GPS tags with remote download via UHF to a base station to limit disturbance to the birds, to track their movements during late incubation and through chick rearing, i.e., the period that will be of most interest in order to study their foraging ecology. 

The Encounter Foundation supported the Kaikoura Lions Helipad Project which is to establish an all weather use helipad at the Kaikoura Hospital site for medical and rescue requirements.The total cost of the project was $93,790.00 made up of a significant contribution from Kaikoura Lions and supporting contributions. This fantastic project will enhance patient safety and comfort and will provide an improved landing base with an up to the minute GPS location system and landing lights for pilot confidence in landing at night or in heavy fog. With the new St Johns Ambulance building being built beside the hospital and the new Fire Service building just across the road, this facility will provide excellent medivac and emergency services for the Kaikoura community and visitors alike. 

LeopardSeals.org is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the research, education and management of leopard seals in New Zealand waters. Since 2016, LeopardSeals.org researchers have been collecting sighting reports and photo-identification of leopard seals to better understand their ecology in this region. Information entered into their databases has been used to better understand the abundance, movement patterns, occurrence, and diet of this species within New Zealand. This information led to the Department of Conservation re-classifying leopard seals from being a vagrant species to a resident in 2019.

The Encounter Foundation’s funding will be used towards continuing our national sightings database and photo-identification catalogue to monitor variations in leopard seal sightings over temporal and spatial scales. The continuation of these databases will also enable further research on the occurrence, residency, movement and health status of leopard seals throughout their range.

The Encounter Foundation is proud to have contributed toward one of the latest exciting projects for Kaikoura. The Kaikoura Cycle Club will begin building a 4.5km tail on Mt Fyffe, the mountain that overlooks the Kaikoura township. One of the central aims of the trail, which will be known as the Kaiterau Trail, is to provide a downhill gravity trail that would encourage young people to participate in mountain biking. Currently there is not a downhill trail in Kaikoura and youth participation is very small. An uphill and downhill trail should be popular with Kaikoura residents and add another attraction for visitors. The trail is designed so that it is suitable for most riders. The downhill trail is planned for around 3.5 kms suitable for intermediate riders with some more difficult sections running parallel to the main trail. A fantastic opportunity for Kaikoura provided by a dedicated group of volunteers, follow progress on social media: @kaikouracycleclub 

The Oaro Old Man's Beard Control Group is a community led group of private landowners and representatives from Ngai Tahu, Department of Conservation, Environment Canterbury, NZTA and Kiwi Rail made up of volunteers and paid staff who have come together with the common goal of reducing old man’s beard and banana passionfruit in the Oaro/Goose Bay region of the Kaikoura Coastline. Old Man’s Beard is a deciduous, woody climber that can reach 25 metres in height which originates from Europe and South-West Asia. Banana passionfruit is a high-climbing evergreen vine which originates from Brazil and South America where it is recognized as a fruiting vine and widely grown as a food crop. Both these vines are extremely invasive and threaten our native forests and animals by smothering and killing all plants to the highest canopy and prevents the establishment of native plant seedlings. 

The aim of this community group which includes landowners, is to see no mature aerial old man’s beard vines within the Oaro/Goose Bay area and to reduce the current old man’s beard by 75% over a 10-year period. This will protect the biodiversity values in the richly biodiverse area of Oaro/Goose Bay, helping the natural habitat and species to survive and thrive. Phase 1 of this project is to tackle a large area of old man's beard and banana passionfruit on private property at Ocean View, between Oaro and Goose Bay.

The Kaikoura Ocean Research Institute Inc. (KORI) is a network of marine researchers and educators. In June 2012 it became a registered non-profit incorporation in New Zealand and in June 2015 became a Registered Charity with New Zealand Charities Services. With funding from the Encounter Foundation, the Department of Conservation (DOC), the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and many volunteer hours, KORI has initiated and conducted a monitoring programme for Hector’s dolphins off Kaikoura since 2013. With systematic boat-based surveys conducted between Hapuku River mouth and Haumuri Bluffs, in coordination with photo-identification of marked individuals, the surveys have revealed many insights into abundance, health, distribution and individual movement patterns within the local area. This successful application to the Encounter Foundation will enable a continuation of the Kaikoura Hector’s Dolphin Project throughout the 2019/2020 season. This consists of 24 boat based surveys, stipend support for a Masters student project examining patterns of dolphin distribution relative to turbidity (Jan-May 2020), stipend support for an Intern to assist with all aspects of the project (Jan-May 2020), a completely updated catalogue of recognizable individuals including most recent photos from both KORI surveys and Encounter Kaikoura and a continuation of trials for a more effective method for collecting breath samples and assessing the health of the dolphins through these samples (includes sample collection and analysis at Massey University).

The Antipodean albatross are in serious trouble with their population dropping by two thirds in the last 12 years. They are now critically endangered due to climatic and oceanographic changes making the birds having to forage further north and overlapping with the tuna fleet out of New Zealand's EEZ. The purpose of the trackers is to determine this interaction so efforts can be made to educate and put pressure on the fishing vessels and their home countries to try and mitigate against the albatross being caught on hooks from the fishing lines.

The project is to equip 3-4 New Zealand surface longline fishing vessels with a 50% set of Hookpods. The total cost of the project in NZ dollars is $26,418.00. The Hookpod is a new mitigation device which prevents the accidental by-catch of seabirds on hooks on longlines.

Find out more about HookPod

In December 2016, an adult female Hector’s dolphin was found dead on the beach near Harnett’s Creek, Kaikoura. The necropsy and further histology, conducted by Dr Wendi Roe at Massey University confirmed that this dolphin had tuberculosis. Jody Weir of Kaikoura Ocean Research Institute proposes a pilot study to determine the feasibility of detecting disease in our Hector's dolphins by collecting blow samples from individuals off our coast and sending them to the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences at Massey University for analysis.

Application by Johannes Fischer, School of Biological Sciences for $6000.00 to go toward research to facilitate the recovery of the South Georgian diving petrel.

K.O.R.I have been conducting a focused study of the Hector's dolphin abundance and distribution at Kaikoura since 2013. Much of the boat based data collection and subsequent analysis has been made possible through funding applications to the Encounter Foundation.

The project was to conduct a further 12 boat based surveys in late 2016 and early 2017. The total cost of the project is $23,590.00

Supporting the Salmon Enhancement Society in the third phase of their project in releasing a further 8,000 Chinook salmon smolt into the head of Lyell Creek above the Kaikoura township. The smolt have been purchased from Fish and Game and again the main aims of the project are to enhance recreational salmon fishing opportunities in Kaikoura, promote sustainable fishing practices and to monitor and provide educational opportunities within the community.

Funding toward the eradication of wilding pines on Mt Fyffe.

This project involves removing and eradicating mountain pine (Pinus mugo) and green alder (Alnus viridis) from the western slopes of Mt Fyffe, which run down to the Kowhai River. Further patches around the hut and towards the top of Mt Fyffe will also be eradicated.

In the 1970’s the Forest Service planted mountain pine (Pinus mugo) and green alder (Alnus viridis) to try and stem the severe erosion in areas due to a long history of grazing, burning or logging, which had depleted the original vegetation and exposed the thin unstable soils. Since grazing has stopped, vegetation has regenerated, but the wilding pines and alders have spread from the original planted sites and threaten surrounding area

The preferred method of control is herbicide injection, this is done by drilling holes in the tree with a petrol powered drill and filling the holes with a chemical. The tree absorbs the chemical and dies whilst standing, over time it will break down. The chemical used is glysophate, using this method there is no risk of by-kill and the chemical is not absorbed by the ground at all. This method is not dangerous for invertebrates.

“Investigation of fallout events in Hutton’s shearwaters and potential population effects”

WhaleFest 2015 was held on the 13th - 15th November at the Kaikoura Memorial Centre. The theme was "Keeping Our Oceans Free of Plastic"

Organiser, Barbara Todd, said the focus this year was on the impact of plastics in the environment, particularly in our oceans.

Local schools were fully involved with each school looking at specific problems created by plastic and completing projects which were displayed at the venue.

A number of speakers participated, including whale scientists, DoC, and Project Jonah.

Heidi C Pearson

Assistance with Heidi Pearson's 4-6 week field season continuing her work with the tagging programme that she began last winter. Work on this stage will commence between 1 Dec 2015 and 10 January 2016. Meanwhile between now and then, work will concentrate on redesigning the tag with a new float design, a satellite transmitter, and a new video camera design. Heidi also has an application in with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago to test out the new tag on their captive Pacific white-sided dolphins this June.

Dusky Dolphin Tagging Project Update, 23 March 2016, From Heidi

We had a successful field season in Kaikoura this past summer (Dec-Jan 2015-16). The goal of the research was to attach a suction-cup tag with a video camera to dusky dolphins. In addition to the video camera, the tag also has a time depth recorder for measuring dive depth, and satellite and VHF transmitters for tracking the dolphin and recovering the tag.

We were lucky to have good weather, cooperative dolphins, and a stellar field team. We succeeded in tagging 11 dolphins, with a maximum tag attachment duration of 7.5 hours. All total, we obtained 9 hours of video footage, which we are currently analyzing. We are particularly excited about the intricate social interactions that we can observe with the video camera that are hidden from the surface.

This is the first time video cameras have been attached to dusky dolphins, and as far as we know, the first time a video camera has been attached to any dolphin. We plan to continue this work and are extremely grateful to the Encounter Foundation and the National Geographic Society/ Waitt Grants Program for financial support.