Kaitaia Intermediate
Goat Island marine reserve
Goat Island marine reserve in Leigh is New Zealand's first marine reserve. A group of students from our school visited the reserve to undertake a comparative study. Scientists record numbers of species in the reserve on a regular basis and compare them with similar studies in nearby unprotected waters where numbers recorded are much lower.
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There was huge excitement as we set off for the water. We had all our gear and were ready to snorkel. Some of us wanted to observe from the rocks. We'd heard about the big crayfish and stuff!
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Before getting into the water we had a talk by Samara Sutherland. She told us the history of the reserve, pointed out the reserve boundaries and explained the changes that had occurred in the underwater habitats since the reserve was established. She described what we would see under the water.
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We knew what to look for. We were looking for little spotties as we entered the water. Then down on the sand we were looking for trevally and goatfish with their whiskers filtering the sand. About mid water we were looking for blue maumau. When we got into the water, I'd never seen so many fish before. They were everywhere and I just loved it. They just swam round us. Throughout the year we use snapshot assessments as well, to indicate where students are at.
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We stayed on the rocks and tried to identify fish from there. We could see lots of kina and different kinds of kelp. But we saw huge fish close up. Right where we were standing you could see them looking at us. We tried to identify them as they swam past.
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In the evening we had a talk by Bill Ballentyne – one of the scientists. He told us that huge crayfish were not afraid of snorkellers. We found out that crayfish walked long distances at night but always returned to the same place. We also learned that snapper are territorial and that those observed inside the reserve were as small as those observed outside.
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While we were at the reserve we also visited the University of Auckland's research centre where they were conducting experiments that examined the spotty’s food chain. We learnt a lot on this trip. We found out that since this area has been protected that there is a huge increase in herbivorous fish like butterfish and blue maumau. There has been a major increase in seaweed and that snapper and lobster numbers in the reserve have increased dramatically over the last 20 years. Rock lobsters are increasing in size and numbers by about seven percent each year.
When we got back to school we wondered if our marine environment by Ninety Mile beach could be made into a reserve too.
