Spotlight

Bounding Over the Bounties

Frances Schmechel

The Bounty Islands are the Chathams nearest neighbour (280 nautical miles away), yet how much do you know about them? In spite of their location "near" the Chathams, most folks probably don't know much about these islands -- and for fairly good reason -- they are some of the least accessible and, not coincidentally, least known of the subantarctic islands.

An expedition to the Bounties was mounted last summer, spearheaded by well-known yachtie Gerry Clark, to find out a bit more about the wildlife that inhabits these remote islands.

The expedition consisted of four "legs". One of the Chathams' own, Sandy King of Pitt Island and the Department of Conservation, was a member of the island team on leg two in October. The main purpose of the expedition was to collect information on the Fulmar prion, a small seabird about which very little is known and which breeds in large numbers only on the Bounties. The trip had to be done in four legs due to the length of time people were available to go, and also because of the limits of what could be transported in the yacht.

Due to a last-minute cancellation I was lucky enough to be able to participate on the third leg. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience as there has only been one other scientific expedition to the Bounties, 20 years ago, in November 1978. (The last overnight party to stay on the Bounties previous to that was 170 years ago when some unlucky sealers were left to hunt and fend for themselves.)

The Bounties, although swarming with bird life and seals, are an inhospitable place for humans. There is no fresh water and no vegetation other than lichens, algae and moss. The group of around 15 granite islands and rock stacks rise out of the ocean abruptly with much of the interface between land and sea sheer cliffs. They were discovered and named in 1788 by William Bligh, after his ship the Bounty. The Bounties are now protected nature reserves along with the other New Zealand subantarctic islands (Campbell, Auckland, the Antipodes and Snares).

The island teams for this expedition consisted of Sandy King and Jacinda Amey on the second leg, and myself and Andrea Booth on the third. Jacinda was a figure on the Chathams a couple of years ago where she helped out with planting on Mangere Island and also cycled around the main Chathams in howling southerlies. She is also known to some because of her courage on Campbell Island where she dived into the ocean to save a shark attack victim.

Frances Schmechel

The voyage from Lyttelton Harbour to the Bounties took about three and a half day's sailing. I had dreaded the sailing part and this was my first overnight sailing trip. The accommodation on the boat was quite compact, with most of the storage in small compartments in the walls. I found the gimballed stove fascinating and watched it as I lay in my berth trying not to be sick. The stove is hinged and is the only safe place to set liquids, which stay in their containers quite happily in spite of all the wild swinging of the stove (which in reality is staying flat while we were swinging around it). I was amazed at how much work it is to walk around in a boat (or do anything else) with all the movement.

After arriving at the islands (there are about 15 of them) we shuttled the gear over with an inflatable dingy to Proclamation Island, our base for the month. On the first trip, Marinus (the sailing crew for this leg) and Andrea had to subdue a territorial bull fur seal before being able to go up onto the landing. Not easy on a small rock platform with nothing but surging ocean and a rubber dingy behind you and a roaring bull seal in front of you. (Because of the bull, Andrea stepped off the dingy onto a rock shelf, but a bit too far back, and went up to her neck in sea water.)

Andrea and crew member Marinus approach the rocky landing area guarded by seals

After the gear was landed, Andrea and I set up camp while Gerry and Marinus anchored near the islands. Unfortunately the anchorage around the Bounties is treacherous and during the four weeks of our stay three anchors were lost -- a big blow since the expedition was a private one (not a DoC-sponsored one), and the funds raised didn't cover all the costs. On the bright side, that was the only major hiccup during our leg.

The camp was set up on a flattish shelf of rock, one of the only ones on the island. We brought most of our fresh water with us, but also used a hand pumped desalinator. All the washing was done in salt water. We cooked on a two-burner camp stove (burritos, pasta and couscous featured prominently in our diet). The sleeping pads (Thermarests) were very comfy, which was fortunate since the bit of ground under mine was actually rocks stacked up to make it flat.

Towards the end of the trip, the mollymawks (a type of albatross) were taking up residence right in camp, roosting on the buckets where we stored our gear and on the rocks I had moved to anchor one corner of my tent. One even did a "please move" display at Andrea -- nodding its head up and down and showing an orange "filange" (a line of orange skin) on the side of its head. Occasionally the mollies landed on the tents or tried to take off from them -- a bit disconcerting when you're inside them.

Only six species of birds breed in any numbers on the Bounties: Salvin mollymawks (a "smaller" type of albatross), erect-crested penguins, Fulmar prions, Antarctic terns, Cape petrels and Bounty Island shag. Although few in species they make up for it in sheer numbers -- every nook and cranny is occupied with birds. All these species had chicks while we were there, and the chicks were gorgeous.

Unfortunately the mollymawk chicks vomit fish oil if sufficiently worried. Our clothes and gear smelled unbelievable by the time we left (to reach the prion nests we often had to get quite close to the molly chicks). We also saw a few black-backed gulls (common on the mainland), a spur-wing plover (probably had been blown way off course from somewhere else; also common on the mainland), a few starlings (they seem to be everywhere in the world), and a lone (lost?) rock-hopper penguin (they breed on the Antipodes to the south of the Bounties).

The erect-crested penguins are fierce parents and attack gumboots, legs, or anything that moves. They have a vicious bite, followed by an even more painful flipper whack for the unwary. They also have defence and greeting calls that are deafening. Fortunately the "guard" stage ended during our stay. Walking became easier and more peaceful because the parents spent more time out at sea, leaving the chicks to fend for themselves. The deserted penguin chicks either hid in crevasses or formed little groups called "creches".

Our work was concentrated in a study area set up by Jacinda and Sandy during the second leg of the expedition. The main focus was the prions, beautiful little blue-grey sea birds which nest in the rock cracks and crevasses. The chicks are little grey balls of fluff. One near our camp was so much fluff (and so little weight) that it kept getting blown out of its nest during a wind storm. We returned it several times, the final time after the wind died down, and it was doing well a couple of weeks later when we left.

We also monitored molly and penguin pairs in the study area to assess chick survival and attendance by the parent birds. We followed the hatching success and growth of Fulmar prion chicks, did a census of prions on almost half of the island, and collected seal and insect samples for other researchers. During the second leg, Sandy and Jacinda did a census of all the mollies and penguins on Proclamation Island (about 3,000 of each).

The four weeks on the island flew by. We had mostly very good weather including a few very calm days and even some calm hot weather (unusual for that latitude). On a few days, the rain kept us in for a bit and one day we had a hailstorm. Most days there was some wind, occasionally quite strong (to be expected in the "roaring 40s").

The trip back took five days because we got caught in a gale. We ended up in Kaikoura and had to motor back for a day. Fortunately we had great weather that day and could sit outside on the deck and enjoy the sun and scenery. Hectors dolphins rode in the bow wave just as we were coming into the Lyttelton Harbour. A lovely end to an amazing trip.

A mollymawk finds the tent a handy perching spot

Frances Schmechel is a student in the Entomology and Animal Ecology Department at Lincoln University