Our Changing World

This week, Claire Concannon returns to the Noises Islands in the Hauraki Gulf. While conservation action on the islands has led to thriving terrestrial ecosystems, under the water, it's a very different story. Listen to learn how the marine environment has declined around the Noises, and what might be done to reverse it.

Lifting the burden of rats in the forests of Ōtata Island has allowed life to flourish there: the plants, the birds, the lizards, the insects. But while things have been improving on land, under the water it's a very different story. 

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Sue Neureuter spent her childhood exploring this island along with her brother Rod and sister Zoe. Her family has memories of abundance: hundreds of nesting seabirds, great big schools of kahawai, kingfish jumping in the bay, plentiful crayfish. But today these are just memories. 

"Now when I snorkel it's a relief to find things," says Sue. 

Ōtata Island is the largest in the Noises Islands group, now owned by the Noises Trust, which the Neureuter family set up in 1995.  

Spurred by the loss they were witnessing, Sue and her siblings reached out to Auckland Council and the Department of Conservation. So, when the Sea Change project was established in 2013 to lay out a plan to reverse decline across the Hauraki Gulf, they became part of the conversations. 

From there, a collaboration developed between the Noises Trust, Auckland War Memorial Museum, and the University of Auckland. Marine surveys confirmed a wide range of underwater habitats - a diversity researchers deemed worth protecting.  

In June 2021 the government released the 'Revitalising the Gulf - Government action on the Sea Change Plan' with a wide range of proposed actions to help the Hauraki Gulf, including new high protection zones. In September 2022, another proposed high protection zone was added: a 60km² area around the Noises Islands. 

With Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Noises Trust has also developed a long-term monitoring strategy, so that they can track any changes that happen if the marine area around the islands gets protected. 

Listen to the episode to hear Sue's stories of loss and hope, plus the work of researchers from Auckland Museum to document the ecology of the Noises Islands.

To learn more: 

Listen to The Noises Islands, Part 1 to learn about the history of conservation research on these islands.   …

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The Noises are a conservation success story in the Hauraki Gulf. Claire Concannon joins a team surveying the wētāpunga, seabirds, and other flora and fauna that now thrive on these predator-free islands.

On the small island of Motuhoropapa sits an old hut. Once it housed researchers who spent three years studying Norway rats, before dealing to them. Today new residents have moved in: giant wētā now thrive on this predator-free island. 

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The creaking wooden door opens up to a house-of-horrors scene - or exciting insect menagerie, depending on your persuasion. Brown pellets litter every surface. The culprit, a wētāpunga, casts a watchful eye from a dark corner high in the rafters above.

The first translocation of 1200 wētāpunga to Motuhoropapa took place in 2015, long after the rats had been removed. The giant wētā have made the forest theirs. But they are only one small part in the much larger picture of life on the Noises Islands. 

Like little dribbles of paint that have dripped off a brush into the ocean, this collection of reefs, rock stacks and small islands sits in the inner Hauraki Gulf. Rakino Island is the nearest neighbour looking back towards Auckland, with the expanse of the outer gulf in the opposite direction. 

The island group has been owned by the Neureuter family since 1933 when it was bought from a retired ship captain for 200 pounds. In 1995 the family formed the Noises Trust to help ensure long-term protection, and the islands were gifted to the Trust. The family's goal is to continue the history of conservation research and education on and around the Noises. 

The most recent effort involves working with Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Auckland War Memorial Museum, to establish a comprehensive, long-term survey of the islands' ecology. To do this, researchers from the museum travel to the islands each year to monitor seabirds, and to assess the vegetation, insect populations and forest bird diversity at specific plot sites. This will allow them to track changes in the island biodiversity and ecology over time. 

And what could cause a major change in island ecology? Well, marine protection around the area might... But whether and when that will happen is still unknown. 

Claire Concannon joins the group as they conduct their survey work to find out about the history of conservation on the islands, the cool creatures that call them home now, and their hopes for the future. Listen to the episode to hear part one of a two-part piece on the Noises Islands. 

To learn more:  …

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We all get some - but are you getting enough? Claire Concannon investigates the science of sleep and meets a pilot-turned-sleep-researcher helping the aviation industry ensure crew on long-haul flights get some shut-eye.

Sleeping isn't clever, evolutionarily speaking. We spend a third of our lives in an extremely vulnerable position, unaware of our surroundings, exposed to threats of predators. But while researchers are not fully sure exactly what the purpose of sleep is, it's clear that we need it.   

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"Sleep is an absolutely fundamental biological process. It is as important to us as eating and drinking," says Professor Leigh Signal, who is on a campaign for the vital importance of sleep to be recognised. She's a professor in fatigue management and sleep health at Massy University, Wellington, with a focus on applying sleep science to workplace settings.  

For her work, Leigh stays up to date with the ever-evolving and wide-ranging research related to basic sleep science. As more and more experiments are done, the importance of sleep becomes more evident. Lack of sleep impacts our mood, our emotional regulation, our immune system functioning, our metabolism and how we function on different basic tasks. When it comes to workplace settings, sleep is vitally important in terms of preventing fatigue-related accidents. 

Having trained as a commercial pilot before moving into academia, Leigh is particularly suited to helping the aviation industry address the challenges many of its staff are faced with. Long work hours, changing time zones, shifting daylight hours that impact our biological clocks, and critical safety tasks that require people to be functioning well and working as a team. 

Listen to the episode to learn about the basics of sleep science, what happens to us when we don't get enough, and about the planning behind the inaugural Air New Zealand Auckland to New York flight to ensure that the crew got enough sleep on the job. 

To learn more: 

This episode contains excerpts from The Secrets of Sleep documentary and the Eyes Wide Open episode of the Hidden Brain podcast.  

There have been previous Our Changing World episodes related to sleep, including one on Sleep Apnoea, Shining a light on our biological clock, and What it takes to live a good life.

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New Zealand's native long-tailed bat, pekapeka-tou-roa, is going strong in Franklin, south of Auckland. But these tiny mammals are threatened by introduced predators, especially cats. Producer Liz Garton goes on a bat hunt and learns about locals' efforts to keep their pekapeka neighbours safe.

A recent survey of the long-tailed bat population in Franklin, south of Auckland, showed there were many more pekapeka than expected.

Join producer Liz Garton as she heads out on a bat hunt, with the batman Ben Paris and some keen locals.

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More than half the survey sites in Franklin detected the presence of bats, but these mysterious mammals are not easy to find or spot.

Pekapeka-tou-roa, or the native long-tailed bat, are a threatened species and they seem to be a tasty treat for all Aotearoa's introduced pests.

And a recent DOC study identified cats as some of the worst offenders.

There is currently no national legislation for managing cats in Aotearoa, but many conservation and animal welfare groups are keen to see a move towards this.

At an individual level, SPCA science advisor Christine Sumner says keeping your cat home is the solution to keeping native species safe.

The SPCA have lots of suggestions for keeping your cat happy and still being a responsible cat owner.

In Franklin's Patumahoe, a concerted effort to reduce pest numbers using an award-winning trap has not only improved native bird numbers in the area, but also seems to have had a positive impact on bat numbers.

To learn more:

Find out more about Tāmaki Makaurau's bat population at Auckland Council.

This study looks at what is predating on pekapeka.

Get tips on keeping your cat happy at home from the SPCA.

Read about Andrew's smart trap on Predator Free Franklin.

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Not everything goes to plan on research trips. And when the trip is to a remote island aboard a navy ship designed to help with disaster relief, and happens to overlap with one of the worst weather disasters in New Zealand... well, things are going to change. Claire Concannon tells the story of Operation Endurance 2023 on Campbell Island.

We thought this episode would be different. Maybe filled with the noisy shriek of hoiho as researchers fit them with satellite tags, or the chortle of southern royal albatrosses as Department of Conservation rangers check their nest numbers. But, plans change.

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And so it was for people aboard the HMNZS Canterbury last week for Operation Endurance.

Op Endurance is a long-running collaboration between the NZ Defence Force and government agencies to enable research and conservation work in far-flung New Zealand territories.

As part of the operation this year, staff and representatives from DOC, MetService, the Defence Technology Agency, the Sir Peter Blake Trust, and mana whenua Kāi Tahu were all onboard.

The plan was to sail 660km south from Bluff to subantarctic Campbell Island. Over 10 days, the defence forces would facilitate the transfer of equipment and personnel that would allow different agencies to get their work and research done.

DOC had plans to do hut and track maintenance and inspection, as well as research on hoiho, sea lions and albatrosses. MetService wanted to do some clean up tasks at their old meteorological station. The Sir Peter Blake Trust had a team of scientists, students and teachers planning to collect samples for a range of scientific investigations. And so on.

The HMNZS Canterbury is a good fit for the operation. As well as its massive cargo space to accommodate numerous shipping containers and heavy equipment, it can sleep over 360 people, and onboard it houses helicopters, Zodiacs and rigid-hulled inflatable boats to shuffle things to and fro.

These features also make it an excellent humanitarian and disaster relief ship.

And so, after just one night at Campbell Island, the HMNZS Canterbury was recalled to help with the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Thus began a massive effort to get as many tasks completed as possible before the ship departed north again. Birds were tagged, fixes were made, clean-ups completed, wave buoys deployed, and communication methods trialled. Peat, plankton and kelp samples were collected, as well as a rock that could turn out to be an important taonga for Kāi Tahu…

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This week we're travelling back in time 66 million years ago with producer William Ray, to a time when dinosaurs roamed. Join William as he meets two Tyrannosaurus rex fossils at the Auckland Museum and uncovers the story behind the bones.

In 2022 Auckland War Memorial Museum received two new guests: a pair of gigantic fossilised Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons. 

Join producer William Ray as he meets the dinosaurs and then discovers the story behind the bones with University of Kansas palaeontologist Dr David Burnham.

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Scientists who've studied the fossils say they have evidence of dramatic injuries, which might shed light on the lifestyles of these deadly dinosaurs. 

The first, nicknamed "Peter", has a devastating injury to his femur, which seems to have been bitten in half by another T. rex in a battle over territory or mating rights. 

The second, "Barbara", has a significant injury to her foot, which would have made it extremely difficult for her to hunt. Some scientists say the fact this injury healed might suggest she was helped to find food by other tyrannosaurs - hinting at a more caring, social side to these dinosaurs. 

To learn more:

Info about Barbara and Peter is available on Auckland Museum's website.

Auckland Museum chief executive Dr David Gaimster spoke to Karyn Hay on Nights about the two tyrannosaurs

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They can hunt, they can fish, they build little nurseries for their babies. Oh and some of them also engage in a bit of sexual cannibalism. Claire Concannon goes on a nighttime stroll in Kirikiriroa Hamilton to meet some fascinating spiders, and learn all about the weird world of spider reproduction.

Simon Connolly has watched around 1100 hours of footage of male spiders being placed into plastic containers with females inside. Sometimes they mate. Sometimes they get eaten. But that's just how it goes. Spider sex can be a risky business.

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Simon is part of the invertebrate behavioural ecology lab at the University of Waikato, where he is working towards a PhD. His supervisor, Dr Chrissie Painting, is interested in the big questions around how and why different mating systems evolve.

Chrissie is figuring out what prerequisites you need for a mating system called monogyny to evolve. Monogyny is when males mate with just one female - a set up that bucks the 'classic' sexual selection theory that says that males of a species will generally tend to try to mate with as many females as possible to ensure the continuation of their genes.

When you get monogyny in different animals you tend to see particular sets of traits, such as females that are a lot larger than their male counterparts. You also sometimes see particularly weird behaviours around mating time, including sexual cannibalism, where the female might eat the male after mating.

To identify the evolutionary steps that might lead a creature down the monogyny mating system route, Chrissie is focusing on a group of spiders that seem to show remarkable variation in the mating systems they employ.

By studying the four Dolomedes fishing spiders that live in Aotearoa New Zealand, and adding this to findings from her collaborators overseas about other Dolomedes spiders, she hopes to unravel the web of traits and circumstances that leads to evolution of monogyny.

Listen to the episode to join Claire Concannon, Chrissie and Simon on a spider hunt in Kirikiriroa Hamilton, to find out about this remarkable group of spiders (some of whom can fish!), and hear how Chrissie hopes this research will add to our understanding of life on earth. 

Research into the evolution of mating systems in Dolomedes spiders is supported by a 2022 Marsden Fast-Start Grant awarded to Dr Painting. The project is in collaboration with researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Institute of Biology in Slovenia and with Dr O'Neale at the University of Auckland.

To learn more: …

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With the Bug of the Year 2023 competition coming to the closing stages, it's not surprising that things are getting heated. In this breaking news story we learn how voting preferences have caused a rift in the Painting lab.

With the inaugural Bug of the Year competition coming to the closing stages, it's not surprising that things are getting heated in some corners.

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In this bonus audio, Claire Concannon talks to Chrissie and Simon about who they are voting for, who the dark horse contenders might be, and how the competition might help our native insects and spiders.

Make sure to listen to the full episode this week to find out all about Chrissie and Simon's research into the Dolomedes spider group.

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What do marine biologists get up to? Some Evans Bay Intermediate school students are learning all about it at the Victoria University Coastal Ecology Lab. Claire Concannon tags along to listen in, and to catch up with Professor James Bell to learn more about his research on sea sponges.

Shouts of surprise and excitement ring through the foyer of the Wellington University Coastal Ecology Lab. Four intermediate school students, with virtual reality headsets on, armed with controllers, are diving in to the ocean to count fish and lobsters.

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They are here for a tour of the lab, and to learn about what marine biologists do. "It's not just swimming with whales and dolphins," says Professor James Bell. As part of the presentation to the Evans Bay Intermediate students he introduces the subject of his research: sea sponges.

Because they can be found quite deep in New Zealand waters, he and his team will often use a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with a camera to survey for sponges. The most surprising finding for him in his years of research is just how abundant they are.

James and his group are interested in what role they play in the underwater ecosystem. By filtering nutrients out of the water and converting them into 'sponge poo' they might enrich the local area, helping other living things thrive in these sponge gardens.

But just as they are starting to understand the role that these sponges might play, it seems like they could be in trouble. After advocating for many years that sponges might in fact be climate change winners, James now qualifies that to tropical sponges only. Extreme ocean temperature events across the last few years have led to some dramatic sponge bleaching in New Zealand's temperate waters.

Looking to the future, James hopes to better understand why some sponges do okay in these warming waters, while others struggle. And he hopes that school group sessions at the marine ecology lab will inspire the next generation of marine biologists to continue this work.

Listen to the episode to learn more about the secret life of sea sponges, and to tour the Wellington University Marine Ecology Lab with James and his colleague Dr Alice Rogers.

To learn more:

As James said in this episode, evidence for a time indicated that sponges might do okay in our changing climate, he spoke to Alison Ballance in 2016 about this.

The mass sea sponge bleaching was reported on Morning Report in June 2022.

James and colleagues published a paper on the bleaching event in December 2022, and wrote a piece for The Conservation.

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