About Dive! Tutukaka
*Wade Doak
Wade is a legend in the marine world, and a passionate advocate for all things fishy, watery, and environmental. He lives locally and knows more about the Tutukaka Coast than most (apart from his wife Jan!) This is a column dedicated to his view, and his past and present adventures. Enjoy!
Browsers and Grazers - Fish of the Poor Knights Marine Reserve
BROWSERS & GRAZERS: species by species, fish guilds that graze or browse invertebrates from the reef.
Footage from Wade Doak.
Plankton feeders - Fish of the Poor Knights Islands
PLANKTERS: plankton feeding fishes of the Poor Knights Islands, NZ's thriving no-take marine reserve. Species by species from demoiselles to the strange pelagic butterfish.
Footage from Wade Doak.
Fishes of the Poor Knights
FISHES OF THE POOR KNIGHTS
Introducing a 5 part ecological presentation of the community of fishes at the Poor Knights Islands, NZ's thriving no-take marine reserve. Wade Doak depicts a fish community, species by species, the plankton feeders, hunters, herbivores, bottom-kissers, browsers, grazers, wrasses & bottom-stalkers.
Blanket Octopus
Luke snapped a pretty good shot of this wierd and wonderful critter, and with the help of Wade and Steve O'Shea, an identification has been made. A kind of cuttle fish, and the only known Tremoctopus species in NZ.
Seriously cool Spiderfish Discovery.
The identification of this fish stumped a few experts for a while, but has been positively identified as the larval form of a fish that lives on the bottom, 1000 - 5000m deep!
BALMY POOR KNIGHTS IN APRIL
It always puzzles me that diving begins tailing off in April. Though the land may be cooling, the ocean has a major lag. The water at the Poor Knights is deliciously warm, [twenty degrees] even in a very light suit. It is evenly warm; no thermocline. No punishing chill as you descend. Jan and I once made a major documentary at the Knights [CASTLE IN THE SEA] in April and we had the best viz I have ever seen out there. These autumn days can be so golden with the lower light levels.
by Wade Doak
SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY AT THE POOR KNIGHTS
The highlight of it all was that scene off Serpent Rock when we saw snapper leaping and thrashing about in a most unsnapperly manner. Skipper ["Excuse me. Are you the Kapiten?" asked a small, superbly mannered European lad] Craig Johnson took us over to investigate.
by Wade Doak
MARINE EDUCATION IN RESERVES
Two of our grand kids have had school trips to the Poor Knights Islands. They have also been taken by their schools to Goat Island, Leigh and to the Motukaroro Marine Reserve in Whangarei Harbour. They got to swim right around it seeing octopuses, pipefish and seahorses.
by Wade Doak
Browse by date
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MariskaHad the best time!
Amazing fish life! Sooo many fishy’s.
The crew was great too.
Thanks for a magical start to my trip of New Zealand
