Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

On This Programme

A sleeping Weddell seal.

Weddell seals live further south than any other seals, roaming the frigid ocean under the sea ice around Antarctica. They are perhaps best known for their extreme dives of up to 700 metres, but they also stand out as the most vocal among seals. Joe Waas studies animal behaviour at Waikato University and he's spent several summers camped out on Antarctic sea ice listening to male Weddell seals under the ice serenading females. The seals have an extraordinary reportoire of songs and they use their vocalisations to communicate their strength and size to potential mates and rivals. Above right: Weddell seals have to keep breathing holes open throughout the year.

Ecologist John Flux is a world expert on hares and rabbits, as well as starlings. He was a government scientist with DSIR Ecology Division for many years, and although he is now officially retired he continues with a number of his research projects. His starling research in Belmont Regional Park, near Wellington, began in 1970, and at its peak involved 500 starling nest boxes, all located in army munitions bunkers built by the American military in 1942 (and cunningly 'camouflaged' to look like a chicken farm from the air). Today, to ensure unbroken records in what has become one of the longest running ecological studies in the world, John monitors 50 nest boxes each spring.

John Flux writes about his research in an essay short-listed for the 2008 Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing.

Looking across from an old volcanic centre at Pupuke, to a young centre at Rangitoto Island.

Within a radius of about twenty kilometres of Auckland's city centre, there are almost 50 discrete volcanoes - making up what geologists call the Auckland Volcanic Field. In order to understand the risk of future eruptions, a team of scientists has embarked on a seven-year project to work out what exactly is happening deep under the city, if and when Auckland could experience another eruption, and how the city and its people can best prepare for it.

The DEVORA project - which stands for Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland - is a collaboration between the University of Auckland and GNS Science, with major funding coming from the Earthquake Commission. Volcanologists Jan Lindsay, at the University of Auckland, and Graham Leonard, at GNS Science in Wellington, explain what the DEVORA team hopes to achieve.

Magma heated from below becomes buoyant and rises. It can sometimes do this forcefully and it exploits weaknesses or faults as it moves toward
the surface. This creates small earthquakes that indicate volcanic unrest.
Eruptions occur when the magma reaches the surface. In DEVORA, the aim is to understand better how, where and when future eruptions are most likely to occur, and assess how this would affect Auckland.Image by GNS Science.

GNS Science geologists Mark Rattenbury and Julie Lee have been working on the QMAP geological mapping project since its inception in 1996. The series of 22 maps is produced at a scale of 1:250 000, and will cover the whole country, as well as the dry valleys of Antarctica. Find out more about the QMAP project and the maps which have been published to date.

Mark Rattenbury at work in the field.

An extract from the recent Aoraki geological map, which covers the Mount Cook area in South Westland and Canterbury.

Bird of the Year

There's still time to choose your favourite bird in the Forest and Bird Bird of the Year poll.

Call for volunteers

Chris Horne and Barbara Mitcalfe, tireless advocates for the tiny Makara Forshore Reserve featured on our programme earlier this year, are calling for volunteers to help them combat a massive weed infestation at the reserve. Sunday, November 9, at Makara Beach outside Wellington, all are welcome to come pitch in. For more information contact Barbara on 04 475 7149.