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Hello All
No diving visit to New Zealand is complete without a visit to the Poor Knights islands.
These lie 24km off the north east coast of North Island, they comprise two large volcanically-formed islands and a host of islets, stacks and pinnacles and are part of a marine reserve within which all fishing (as well as landing on the islands) is prohibited. This status means large populations of marine life have had the opportunity to grow – the dense and huge shoals of pink and blue maomao and stingrays being the Poor Knights’ signature. The underwater terrain reflects the islands themselves, lots of steep, sheer walls, arches and swim-throughs make the dives interesting. The water is clear with 30m+ visibility and seems to enhance the rainbow-range of colours that bombard one’s senses – kingfish, trevally, moray eels of many species, grouper, demoiselles, the ever-present maomaos and a multitude of stunning little nudibranchs add to the rich colours of the kelp and hard corals. A large pod of orca are frequent visitors to the Poor Knights but unfortunately didn’t show up while we were there. They come to feed on the resident stingrays – and apparently decimated the population over a very short period in 2002 which hasn’t properly recovered since.
More writing to follow....
Tx
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