Rena Recovery Newsletter - Issue 11
Introducing new Rena Recovery Manager Bruce Fraser
The Rena Recovery programme has a new manager following the departure of Catherine Taylor in April.
Bruce brings a wealth of local community knowledge to the role and was involved with coordinating the volunteer response
in the early days of the Rena.
“Catherine has been a fantastic leader for the programme over the past 16 months and she has done a great deal to
establish programmes across wildlife, the coastal environment, iwi engagement and research. I will be focusing on
progressing these programmes and look forward to continuing to keep you updated,” Bruce said.
“As the demands on iwi liaison for the recovery programme have lessened we also farewell iwi liaison coordinators Lee
Taingahue, Rangi Butler and Carlton Bidois. These people have been critical towards engaging with iwi as we have
established programmes and implemented projects with advice and support from local iwi. I will be maintaining close
links with iwi representatives as we progress the projects.”
In this month’s newsletter find out about deep sea rocky reef sampling, little blue penguin monitoring and an update on
the owner’s work to clear plastic beads from shorelines.
Deep water sampling on rocky reefs
A team of researchers from Bay of Plenty Polytechnic have been researching the impacts of the Rena grounding on
surrounding deep water rocky reefs near the Astrolabe Reef.
Immediately after the Rena grounded in October 2011, a dive team went out to survey offshore rocky reef sites. Twenty
one sites were chosen which were close to the wreck and likely to be impacted by a potential oil spill.
Samples were taken from each of these sites, and ecological measurements were recorded prior to any oil spill, loss of
debris or contaminants entering the waters. This preliminary information has been invaluable for further research, as it
provides a picture of the state of the environment before any impact was felt
During the past year the Bay of Plenty polytechnic team has gone about re-visiting each site and also assessed rocky
reefs and shallow sandy habitats that are close to oil-impacted beaches. All samples taken have been sent to
laboratories for chemical analysis
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Marine Research Leader and Programme Coordinator Keith Gregor is leading this research. “As
part of this research we have been able to sample a wide range of rocky reef systems in this area; this is really
valuable information that has never been recorded in this way before,” he said
“There are some interesting patterns in the data but it also contains lot of variability. We are awaiting the final
chemistry results but so far the ecological information collected has not indicated any obvious impacts on the sub
tidal rocky reefs close to the grounding.
The deep water rocky reef research project is part of the Rena Recovery Monitoring Programme which aims to research
impacts on the Bay of Plenty coastal environment from the Rena.
For more information go to www.renarecovery.org.nz
ENDS