Prisha Patel 12K6 is one of the overall Enviroschool lead students and also leads the Worm Farm Group. Her service to our local environment was a factor in Prisha being accepted onto this Blake Expedition.
Prisha writes:
The ceaseless collision of tectonic plates below us form the Southern Alps, the base of our country along the west of the South Island and home to Fiordland.
Millions of years ago, the slow and steady work of glaciers etched out the valleys and sounds that make up what is likely Aotearoa’s biggest carbon sink. As the thick ice carved its way out to sea, it gouged out the lakes and deep fiords this area is now famous for. Fiordland is one of the only places in the world where the flora and fauna of Gondwanaland still remain. Mountainsides blooming with life and creeping valleys of deep rivers are some of what is left of the ice age in New Zealand, creating one of the four places on earth where fjords exist.
I was given the opportunity to apply for a position on one of this year’s BLAKE Expeditions and was accepted for the Fiordland Project with seven other students ranging from Year 12 to first year university students.
Meeting in Queenstown Airport before taking a helicopter ride from Te Anau to Doubtful Sound, we set sail with Wild Fiordland on a six day expedition through the sounds, completely off the grid with no access to phone service or internet due to the remoteness of the Fiords. We were not alone though. Our team was joined by a small group of researchers from the University of Otago analysing just how much carbon Fiordland can hold.
So, what do we know?
Fjords are critical to the earth’s carbon cycle. It is estimated around 18 million tonnes of organic carbon are buried in fjords around the world each year. Fiordland is a giant sponge when it comes to absorbing carbon – making it crucial in regulating the climate. Fiordland’s carbon storage is under threat with the effects of climate change and what it is doing to the land.
Travelling through Doubtful Sound for the first time felt like reality had taken a detour. The air was cold and crisp as the boat glided on top of the surface of the dark water, leaving behind gentle undulating patters that glistened while the sun set beneath the forest-enveloped mountains. We listened to the head researchers Christina and Andrew talk about what was to come in the next few days, giving us a rundown of what the work is like and explaining the project: Fiordland is the largest carbon sink in the world and needs to be protected.
The first two days were spent collecting data. Our group of eight were split into two, with one group staying on our accommodation boat, the Breaksea Girl and the other group spending the day on the Polaris II, the research vessel where the team from Otago worked and lived in.
On Breaksea Girl, we were joined by geologists Ellen and Andrew again who showed us how they collected seismic data, and used booming to sound the seafloor below the water. They were able to map out and determine just how deep the water is by placing a loud speaker below the boat, and using a hydrophone to pick up soundwaves and create visuals to show what the layers of the seabed look like. It was so amazing to see what things looked like below the surface and although it was just 2D, it provided significant information.
The next day my group went to the Polaris II where we worked with Christine and the rest of the team to collect samples of the sea floor. They did this by plunging a giant instrument containing four core samplers, (which were giant clear plastic cylinders) and had the sediment sucked into them using vacuum technology. This sample produced four successful cores containing sediment from the floor, which was about 110m below the boat. These were then to be extracted and made ready to process. The longest core was archived, and the remaining three were each used to investigate organic matter (such as Phyto-plankton), carbon and nitrogen levels, and trace metals (like iron and magnesium). The samples were sliced by 1cm increments and placed into bags which were to be transported to be analysed in the Dunedin lab. The data from this would show exactly what exists in the different layers of the sediment and tell us more about the location sampled.
On Wednesday we waved goodbye to the Polaris as we went our separate ways while we travelled through Bradshaw Sound and the research team continued their work further south.
The next day, one of the skippers took our team kayaking through Camelot River, which was normally off limits, but since we were there to gather research samples, our group was an exception. The water was paralyzingly cold. Surrounded by giants we paddled through the river. It was like the surface was glass, flawlessly reflecting the scene around us. There was something so otherworldly about the way the plants hung over the water and the mountains towering over us.
The only times we stepped off the boat were when we were moving to the Polaris II, or making our way to a stream to collect water and plant samples. These were for the Polaris and would be used to help measure carbon in the environment and allow the researchers to gain a better understanding of the carbon levels in Fiordland.
During the week, we experienced little filler events which strung our story together. One afternoon we went fishing in Breaksea Sound – catching at least 24 cod in an hour. We spent some time going for hikes in the reserves, leaning about the rich Māori settlement and explorer history, eating Bluefin Tuna when a fishing boat happened to come across us and getting to witness the bioluminescence of plankton in the channels, watching them under the moonlight as they twinkled like stars in the black water.
On the final day in Breaksea Sound, we said our goodbyes to the BLAKE and ship staff. We then travelled back to Queenstown Airport where the group went our separate ways.
Being on this expedition showed me things I never expected to experience. From being part of scientific research, to living on a boat for a week, and experiencing the same wild majesty explorers did hundreds of years ago. I’ve gained a brand-new perspective of this world. The memories and knowledge I’ve gained will stay with me and I hope that with this I can apply it to my future and share what I’ve learned. Connection to the natural world and an understanding of its importance is crucial for a better future; sometimes even a breath of fresh air is just enough to show you that.
~ Prisha Patel 12K6