Days 15 - 17: Monday 23 to Wednesday 25 August

The Whale Team pictured on SV Falcon GT.

The whale research team have been in full operation for the last 3 days, searching for humpback whales and doing transects at sea to look for other cetaceans in the area. Perfect for me to also look to see what seabirds use the area. It’s unlikely that seabird surveys have ever been undertaken here so anything I can do while here is worthwhile.

The ubiquitous white-tailed tropic bird seems to be the commonest bird at sea although flocks of brown noddies and common white terns are a frequent occurrence in the distance working up over schools of fish. I’ve seen brown booby, great frigate bird (juvenile) and a Polynesian storm petrel which is a first for me and a new record for the area, or at least it isn’t recorded in the field guides for this area. Also a sooty shearwater, possibly already on its southward migration to NZ for breeding.

Humpback whales remain elusive, although we tend to get them visiting the moorings each night. Sometimes they are known to rub their bodies along the boats at anchor or tug at the moorings! I put the hydrophone down to see if they also sing at night and sure enough they do. These are the male humpbacks advertising their presence to the females. Interestingly the songs don’t remain the same from year to year but evolve and spread throughout the Pacific.

Another first record for the area is a pair of sei whales that we came across yesterday while running a transect. This is the first time they have been recorded here in Niuean waters. Sea conditions have been challenging for the team with over 15 knots of wind making it hard to see smaller cetaceans, but no problem for the birds!

Today (Wed) was a ‘land’ day for me to give others an opportunity to go to sea and to take a break from the sun and sea. My plan was to meet up with local bird enthusiast Misa Kulatea. Misa spearheaded bird rescue work on Niue by feeding birds whose habitat had been devastated by cyclone Heta in 2004. Misa took Helen, a friend from NZ, and I into the forest today to learn a bit about the ecology and traditional uses of the forest. Sadly bird numbers have declined and even died out – for example the spotless crake has disappeared altogether although we did see banded rail. Rats, cats, pigs and dogs are all threats to the birdlife as well as introduced species such as the honey bee which competes for food of the blue crowned lorikeet. Wild pigs are not really hunted much. I was surprised that Misa didn’t take us to the Huvalu Conservation Area, but he told us it is tapu and no one is allowed to go there, even local landowners. I was pleased to hear that as it would go some way towards providing some protection for the Pacific pigeon which is hunted in November and December while they still have young. Something Misa has been trying to get changed.

Misa and Karen under a Baringtonia tree.

I was very excited to see jungle fowl as I had struggled hard to see them in Vanuatu some years ago where they are very flighty. Birds in the forest here are pretty scary too and ran away into the forest, but Misa said they are now mostly crossed with local chickens as in the old days jungle fowl would take flight to escape. Jungle fowl were brought to Pacific Islands from Southeast Asia and were distributed around the Pacific by colonising Polynesians. Many of the cocks on Niue display the beautiful multi-coloured plumage with bright orange neck, maroon mantle, glossy blue wings and a lovely arching shiny green tail. I hoped the ones I saw in the forest were pretty close to the original jungle fowl of old.

Finally today we did a dive with the local Niue dive operator. A smoothly run operation with just the right mix of professionalism and friendliness – thanks Anne! We did the signature dive in Niue which is to see the sea snakes at Sea Snake Gully. For some reason these snakes congregate here and lie entwined in masses in crevices in the coral. Then every now and then they rise to the surface in a sinuous movement to catch a breath. There doesn’t appear to be any explanation for this behaviour. A bit like the humpback whales hanging around the freshwater springs in the sea – are they drinking it or just cooling off!