Northern Giant Petrel - Beach Rescue and Ocean Release

Some days you just don't know what you'll find at the beach.

One stormy Sunday afternoon, we were walking along and saw a couple of kids in the waves. 'Crazy kids' I thought since it is winter and, although the waves looked exciting, the kids looked cold. Then we realised that they were trying to rescue a large black bird that was being bashed about by the waves.

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

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

World Oceans Day

How will you mark World Oceans Day?

A week or so ago we walked along the coast and as we walked we picked up plastic rubbish and cans, until our bags were full. Sadly we had to leave a lot of rubbish because we couldn't carry it all.

Rubbish picked up along the coast

Rubbish gets into the sea from the beach, from boats and also from being blown into the sea from the land.

Sea Week - At the Beach

Sea Week is on - with events around the country. Sea Week is run by the NZ Association for Environmental Education, so has a schools focus.
But that shouldn't stop the rest of us making the most of Sea Week at the beach - or at home.

Sea anemones

Turtle conservation at Kelly Tarlton's

Turtles that find themselves in New Zealand waters, are a long way from home! Turtles are animals of the tropics where the water is warmer. According to the Kelly Tarlton's website, turtles that are in the colder water around New Zealand are often those that are weak or sick.

Here is a green turtle that is in Turtle Rehab at Kelly Tarlton's Sealife Aquarium.

Venture into the unknown with Auckland Museum's Moana - My Ocean exhibition

Wet and cold outside? Immerse yourself and the kids in the ocean without getting wet. Auckland Museum has a fabulous exhibition Moana - My Ocean on until 28 October.

My favourite part of the exhibition was the 3D video from Leigh Marine Reserve.

More Marine Mammals

Southern Right Whales really were too big to fit onto the pages of At the Beach!
They are pretty special whales fighting their way back from near extinction.

This recent article http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/8514824/Southern-Right-Whale-sightings-on-the-rise says that between 2003 and 2010 there were 28 mother-calf pair sightings around New Zealand. This may not sound like many, but this is an increase in numbers from before 2003.

I wonder if they've counted a sighting by me and some friends off of Banks Peninsula back in 2009.

Fur seals are 'eared' seals

There wasn’t enough room in At the Beach to cover all of the interesting animals that we can find around our coastline. We included the most common animals that most people would have a chance to see in their local area. Unfortunately that meant marine mammals missed out.

Marine mammals are only occasional visitors where I live, maybe once a year I see a seal that has stopped for a rest on the beach or a whale passing by. But some places really suit New Zealand Fur Seals (kekeno). I was lucky to see some seal colonies near Kaikoura and at Doubtful Sound in January and February.

I’ve always wondered why seals in kids' cartoons and storybooks looked different from our seals. And I found out why from a guide on a Real Journeys Doubtful Sound trip.

New Zealand Fur Seals are in the family of ‘eared seals’, which means that their ears have flaps which you can clearly see in this photo.

Photo copyright Sue Monk