#Dunedin

[travelbinge]

By David Steer

Dunedin, New Zealand

[henk-heijmans]

Ethel King adds the finishing painterly touches to a large specimen of groper in preparation for display at an international exhibition in Dunedin, New Zealand, ca. 1926 - by G.C. Clutton (1885 - 1947), Australian

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For Falintine’s day!!^^

[drhoz]

#2829 - Psephophorus terryprachetti - Pterry's Giant Pturtle

A very large, extinct, leatherback turtle from the Eocene, named after beloved author Terry Pratchett. He was pleased about this, saying that anybody that wasn't delighted about getting a species named after them was clearly a Pod being from the Planet Zog.

The first fossils from the genus were discovered by German Paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1846, but all he had were the dermal plates (not that different from the fossil above, really). That's probably why even by 1879, they still weren't clear on what it actually was - British paleotologist Harry Govier Seeley thought they resembled the armour of an armadillo.

The Pturtle was discovered in New Zealand in the 1990s. It would have been 2.5m long, in life.

Sadly, there's only one Dermochelyid turtle left in the world - the Leatherback Dermochelys coriacea, which is critically endangered in some areas. Leatherbacks are unique compared to other modern sea turtles because they lack a bony shell; instead, its carapace is covered by oily flesh and flexible, leathery skin. They're also the deepest-diving and fastest reptiles in the world, swimming down to over 1200m depth, at speeds of up to 35kph. Their constant activity and internal adaptations lets them run at a surprisingly high internal temperature - 18C above the surrounding water.

The biggest threat to leatherback survival is, unfortunately, humanity - hatchlings can be confused by artificial light and head inland instead of towards the water, older turtles are easily caught in fishing nets, and they can confuse plastic bags floating in the water for the jellyfish that form the bulk of their diet.

Otago Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand.

[unteriors]

Tomahawk Road, Andersons Bay (Dunedin), Otago, New Zealand.

[loustravels]

In December 2023, my family and I embarked on a cruise around the south island of New Zealand. We celebrated both Christmas and New Year's Eve aboad the Royal Carribean ship 'Ovation of the Seas'.

Our second port of call was Port Chalmers (Dunedin), where we went on a Wildlife Cruise through Otago Harbour. We got to see a variety of birds (including swans, shags and albatross), NZ Fur Seals and even a Blue Penguin!

[bentbox-co]

[oceaniastuff]

Tunnel Beach, Dunedin, New Zealand: Tunnel Beach is a locality 7.5 kilometres southwest of the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located just south of St Clair, Tunnel Beach has sea-carved sandstone cliffs, rock arches and caves. Wikipedia

[bluedesignwall]

We visited the butterfly house at the Dunedin Museum. It is well worth a visit.

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Red-billed Gull & chicks

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If November were a city, it would be Edinburgh.

Photo: Edinburgh, Scotland

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View of Dunedin, New Zealand

British vintage postcard

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New music video I made for Ōtepoti band Bunchy's Big Score

[drhoz]

#2799 - Hyalonema mirabilis - Glass Rope Sponge

Another glass sponge, best known from the long stalk that looks like a bundle of fiber optic cable several feet long. The intact animal has a cup-shaped mass of more glass fibers and living tissue, floating at the top of the stalk.

(Hyalonema sp., 448 m Triceratops, South Atlantic Bight. Photo by S. Brooke et al., NOAA-OE, HBOI. Identification by J. Reed.)

Given how poorly known deep sea life is even today, it's not so surprising tjat early marine biologists got very excited when species they thought lived only on the other side of the world could also be found much closer to home (albeit at 400 fathoms). See this paper by Perceval Wright in 1870 - he'd been assured that Hyalonema mirabilis specimens collected off Portugal were more likely thrown overboard from some ship coming from Japan than actually found there. Happily for his research, his colleague was wrong.

Otago Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand

[unteriors]

Moana Street, Aramoana, Otago, New Zealand.