Tricked by a Seal - what counts as normal behaviour?

Last weekend at the beach, we saw a fur seal (kekeno) holding one flipper in the air for a long, long time. It's not surprising that some people thought what they were seeing was a dolphin fin, but I recognised this seal pose from a previous encounter.

Seals have tricked me before with their one-flipper pose. A month ago, I saw a seal hold this one-flipper pose for much longer than ten minutes. I began to worry that it was injured. Only after I had called the DOC Hot Line and was speaking to someone there, did it roll over and clap its flippers together as if pleased by the joke.

Seal - thermal regulating

I thought that it must have been having a rest, but a friend explained that what the seal is doing is called thermal regulating. Holding a flipper out of the water helps it either cool down or warm up, depending on the sun and the wind.

Competition Time - Tell me what do you want to read about?

It's competition time! Enter to win a copy of my latest book "From Moa to Dinosaurs" or a perennial favourite "Under the Ocean".

Sea Week Resources - an update

It's good to see that Auckland Museum have updated their Marine Life App since I reviewed it last year in Top 2 Sea Life Apps. They've fixed the background issue so the text is legible and while the maps still show the Auckland region only, a note below explains where else in New Zealand the animal or plant might be found. Older children will find enough information here and younger children will enjoy using the photographs to ID the birds, fishes, plants, invertebrates, mammals and reptiles that they find on or near the ocean. 

My publishers Potton & Burton have also updated their website, improving the pages of information for children, parents and educators that accompany each of my books. Here you can find tips for reading, activity ideas for learning about the ocean, further reading, website links and lots more. Here's the link for Under the Ocean Ideas for children, parents and teachers.

Web pages for 'Under the Ocean'

Finalist in Children's Book Awards - Under the Ocean

Great news - Under the Ocean is a finalist in the New Zealand Children's Book Awards.

Image from Booksellers NZ

A Cool Visit to NIWA's Sea Critter Collection

Ned (illustrator of the 'explore and discover' books) and I were excited to be invited to NIWA along with the wonderful people from the Wellington Storylines Family Day committee. There we met with Sadie Mills, a deep ocean specialist who is in charge of the NIWA Invertebrate Collection.

Sadie telling us about the collection

Tips for Reading With Children - Under the Ocean

To help children, parents and educators get the most out of my books, I've written down ideas for reading each book, activities and further places to get good information. These have been on the publisher's website, but a recent revamp means these pages are temporarily inaccessible. So for now I'm putting these ideas on the blog.

Tips for Reading Non-Fiction With Children

Top 2 Sea Life Apps - reviewed in time for Sea Week

Sea Week is approaching fast, a good time for schools, parents and public to turn their attention to the treasures of the sea.  Sea Week 2015 runs from 28 February to 8 March and the theme this year is "Look beneath the surface - Papatai o roto - Papatai o raro".

Unlike a trip to the beach or the bush, it's hard to show children what lives under the sea, although there are more and more great programmes to get kids snorkelling and out and about on the ocean. Sometimes books, the internet and Apps are what is needed to give a good picture of what is beneath the surface. Our book "Under the Ocean" aims to do just that for younger readers and we've worked on showing different habitats, reefs, sea floor, deep ocean etc as well as some of the creatures that live there. But there was a limit to how many animals we could show so I've been looking at websites and apps to help parents, teachers and kids find out more about what is beneath the surface of our oceans. Some of the best are listed in our notes for children, parents and educators. You'll find tips and ideas here for activities and reading the book too.

Now for my top two Apps - what's more they are free!

Feeding Fairy Prions - a volunteer's week on Mana Island

100 fairy prion chicks from Takapourewa/Stephens Island were welcomed on to Mana Island a week ago, on 22 January.

One of the 100 Fairy Prion chicks

Gannets at Muriwai - day trip from Auckland

The gannet is a beautiful bird, snowy white, with black-tipped wings, yellow head, blue eyes.

 I often see one or two from my window, gliding, beak pointed downwards eyeing the sea below. If I watch long enough I'll see the bird suddenly dive at startling speeds.

These impressive birds feature on the first pages of Under the Ocean, where Ned has illustrated them at all stages of their diving.

They don't nest around here, but I've seen them nesting near Cape Kidnappers, we walked for a few hours along the beach to see them, leaving as the tide was going out and returning before it came back in again.

Under the Ocean - Book Launch

Please join us at the book launch of Under the Ocean on Wednesday 1 October at 6pm, at The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington. Ned and I will have our signing pens out, and there'll be drinks and nibbles for all.