Last week we celebrated our eighth annual Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Seminar with nearly 300 guests at Auckland Museum.
It was – as usual – a wonderful affirmation of the community that cares about the Hauraki Gulf/ Tīkapa Moana/ Te Moananui o Toi.
The theme of seabirds – ngā manu o te moana – enabled us to explore the practical details of conservation effort, as well as to soar high and consider broader relationships with nature.
I was struck by many presentations, among them Dame Anne Salmond’s assertion that our future is inextricably tangled with those of other lifeforms.
This edition of Gulf Journal revisits several talks: Rochelle Constantine’s taking of ‘the pulse of the Gulf’ and Mook Hohneck’s call for an embrace of Te Reo. We acknowledge the leadership of Biz Bell, who has shared the story of the taiko/ black petrel so generously and effectively. We update the quest of Jochen Zaeschmar – a speaker at the 2016 seminar – to find the elusive false killer whale and we recall a notorious centenary for Motuihe Island.
Enjoy these stories and the sustenance that the Gulf provides.
Mayor John Tregidga
Chair, Hauraki Gulf Forum.
