25th September 2020

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Kia ora,

We are now well into spring and a change in season can mean a change in what you may find on the shore. Many intertidal animals are reproducing at this time of year. Look carefully when turning over rocks - you might just encounter some eggs attached to the rock, a fish guarding its nest or a crab carrying eggs! While you are looking out for signs of seasonal change, you might want to keep an eye of for marine pests. So, celebrate the school holidays by travelling to your local beach, estuary or rocky shore, who knows what you might find....

What is a Marine Pest?

Marine pests are species that are not normally found in New Zealand's oceanic environment but have been introduced by human activities and have the potential to harm our natural resources and environment.

You can have a look at some examples of marine pests in New Zealand on our website or our Facebook page

Want to know how you can help fight marine pests? Watch this video!

What To Do If You Find A Marine Pest?

Use the Ministry for Primary Industry (MPI)'s handy identification guide to help you figure out if you are looking at a marine pest
Take a photo of the suspected marine pest and make sure you remember where you found it!
Check where the marine pest has been found using the Marine Biosecurity Porthole
Contact MPI on 0800 80 99 66 to report the marine pest, especially if it has not been found in your area!

Hauraki Gulf Monitoring Project

The Hauraki Gulf Monitoring Project uses Mm2 to help monitor human impacts that are affecting our shores. This work is supported by the Foundation North and the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE). Despite COVID-19 restrictions and the bad weather, three schools from around the Hauraki Gulf still managed to collect valuable data about the distribution, abundance and diversity of rocky shore species. A lot of exciting species were found, including nudibranchs, whelks and shrimp, but unfortunately, some marine pests were also located. Luckily we had some staff from MPI and Biosecurity New Zealand on hand to report directly to! Thanks to them and Sir Peter Blake MERC for their support.

You can find out more about the project here under 'Get Involved'.

Find out more about marine pests!

On our Facebook page we profiled some marine species that pose a threat to our marine environment - re-visit our page to remind yourself of key features to look out for when identifying marine pests.

Hot off the press is a new website about marine biosecurity aimed at boatie, they're slogan is "Clean below? Good to go". It has been bought to you from multiple regional councils as well as the Department of Conservation and MPI.

Keep Up to Date with Us!

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @marinemetre2. On social media we post relevant articles and activities as well as share what our Mm2 community has been up to. So we want to hear from you! Whether it is finding something weird and wonderful or simply just a great day out exploring - get in touch with us so we can post it on social media or under 'Community Stories' on our website.

Up Next....

We will be profiling the Hauraki Gulf Monitoring Project!

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