Dunedin
By Rebecca Fox on Fri, 14 Jun 2013
Aramoana resident Bradley Curnow, with his Department of
Conservation-issued hard hat, surveys a recent rock slide
on Big Beach, next to a yellow-eyed penguin colony. Photo
by Craig Baxter.
Part of a cliff face has fallen on to an Aramoana beach,
narrowly missing a colony of endangered yellow-eyed penguins.
Man-sized boulders crashed down the cliff and on to the beach
recently, flattening trees and tussock on the Aramoana
Recreational Reserve.
The cliff had been known to crumble occasionally but it was
the first time in many years such a big fall had occured,
nearby resident Bradley Curnow said.
''This is by far the biggest. I didn't even hear it, which is
unusual,'' he said.
Luckily, it just missed the traps set by Aramoana
Conservation Trust volunteers to protect the penguins and
their nests, but it did knock down a sign informing people it
was a nesting area and not to bring dogs into the area.
He believed the rockfall was the result of the recent rain
and snow combined with frosts.
Doc ranger Jim Fyfe said the rockfall was a natural process
and ''by luck'' it had not affected the yellow-eyed penguins.
source
No comments:
Post a Comment