Date Posted: 18 Jan 2012 |
A Project to Help Return the Mauri (Life & Soul) to the Wai (Water)
The Northland based Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust will be showcasing an ambitious international environmental & social art project, in which all visitors are invited to be a part, that focuses on New Zealand’s own native longfin eel!
Several years ago Stephanie Bowman, an artist and science educator from the southwest desert of the United States came to NZ as a traveller longing to experience what she believed to be a land of pristine, healthy waters. But, when she visited the South Island’s Lake Rotoiti she found herself falling in love with a mysterious, graceful (and sometimes slimy!) fish that revealed to her a different story hidden beneath the surface of our blue waters. “The longfin (eel) is simply amazing”, says Stephanie, four round-trip tickets later, but still with a look of astonishment in her eyes. “These threatened and important top predators are found nowhere else in the world and are a crucial part of this country’s cultural history”. Indeed, not only can the longfin eel live over 100 years before being able to reproduce once, but when they do set off out to sea to mate, they morph and become creatures of the ocean depths, travelling thousands of kilometers to the deep sea trenches near Tonga where they
finally mate and die. After making an ancient and risky journey, the elvers (baby eels) re-appear to live in New Zealand’s freshwaters a couple years later.
Back in the Arizona desert after her first trip to Aotearoa, but buzzing with the curiosity that can appear when we travel to and discover a place new to us, Stephanie contacted New Zealand freshwater scientists to learn about these snake-like fish. What she discovered at first shocked her and then awakened in her a strong desire to do something to make a difference for our endemic and endangered eels as well as the struggling freshwater ecosystems in which they live. Dr. Mike Joy, a senior lecturer at Massey University explains: “Longfin eels, already driven to low numbers by loss of habitat and pollution, are commercially fished mostly for export to Europe and Asia. As a result, they are on the verge of extinction. This has already happened in the Northern Hemisphere, where the American, European and Japanese eels are all near extinction, having succumbed to the same habitat loss, pollution and overfishing as our own.” Amber McEwan, a Wairarapa freshwater scientist, asks citizens to “Imagine the uproar if a handful of New Zealanders were allowed to hunt for profit and export our little spotted kiwi”. Stephanie was called to action when she realized that that was exactly what was happening to the not-lucky-enough-to-be-cute-and-fuzzy longfin eel.
The artist and educator first wrote and illustrated an educational story book about the lives of a mother and son longfin eel. To be available in print later this year, anyone can now print out the story and pictures for free via Stephanie’s website: bowmansart.com/portfolio/childrens.htm Now, with the help of countless NZ educators, scientists, kids, and friends, a taniwha-sized and growing mixed media and fabric eel has been created for all New Zealanders to not only see, but also to lend their creative hands in helping it grow as long and beautiful as possible before it is carried around the Beehive, displayed at Te Papa, and sailed to Tonga and back, like the eels.
The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust (MTSCT) will have sections of “Velvet: The Travelling Tuna Tapestry” on display from at the Whangarei Library from Friday 6 January to Wednesday 11 January including a storytelling of Stephanie’s book “ Velvet and Elvis” in the children’s library at 10am on Saturday 7 January where the public will have an opportunity to add their own bit of creative flair to Whangarei’s piece of the tapestry. Anyone can come and see what folks from all over NZ and beyond have crafted with their many hands and one heart. Around the looooooooooooooooooong eel observers will find puffy, transparent jellyfish, twinkling starfish, and weird deep sea creatures emerging below the eel’s body; while above, freshwater crays creep, crazy-colored bullies thrive, and inanga (a whitebait fish) wiggle their way upstream through bountiful waters. Even better, visitors can bring their own hands and heart to add to the panel that MTSCT is contributing in order to help return the mauri (life and soul) to the wai (water). MTSCT will then take Velvet down to Raglan where they are holding their annual National Marine and Freshwater Conference and then bring her back up to Whangarei for a display of the whole Velvet tapestry (all 60 metres or so) at the town basin reserve along the Hatea River on Saturday 21 January before she heads off to Hokitika for her next stop. For more information on these local events please visit http://www.whitebaitconnection.co.nz
Other groups, schools, or individuals interested in being part of this fun and important project should contact the project creator via e-mail: . Also, to get more information about tuna (eels) and to see what you can do to help save them, visit the Manaaki Tuna website: http://www.longfineel.co.nz
Where will Velvet show up next?
Posted in: Conservation Trust Media Releases •
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