Submitted by Margaret Parker the 2025 Winter program in Dunedin, New Zealand…
Within the first week of my arrival in New Zealand, it has become so clear how loved and respected nature and animals are here. The culture here is to take care of the environment and protect the species that have been affected by humans. During the first few days, my project group for the classroom went to the Settlers Museum in Dunedin. We learned about the whaling industry and how whales were hunted to extinction by the European settlers and the indigenous group on the island, the Maori. We followed up this research with the program’s trip on a wildlife tour. My guide explained how whales are some of the only animals in the world that have migrated back to the region after extinction. It is very rare for animals to disappear after hunting and then choose to come back. That being said, they stay very offshore, away from where the hunting occurred, even generations later. This was referred to as generational trauma by my tour guide.
The tour guide then showed us fur seals, sea lions, and penguins. We saw the world’s rarest penguins, the yellow-Eyed Penguins, and she explained the conservation work they are doing. The penguins are ridden with diseases that are passed onto the babies when in the eggs. Once the adult penguins lay eggs, they are taken to a clinic, given medication and fed back to health, then returned to the parents. This increases the survival rate of the babies from almost zero to 100% survival rate. This is just some of the work New Zealand does to protect endangered species.
As for the sea lions, we saw the world’s rarest sea lion too, the New Zealand Sea Lion. These guys are also in danger of extinction. Our tour guide has spent her academic and professional career researching and protecting sea lions. They are often thought to be aggressive, but really they are just the “dogs of the water” and people are more intimidated by their size. If a human stays still and acts boring, the sea lion will not be interested in you. The sea lions are facing danger with gun violence and being shot by people who thought they were under attack. The sea lions are on protected beaches and there is a large movement of education for these animals in order to protect the species.
The work that I learned about was truly inspiring and I felt the love and care being shown to the animals. The respect for nature is near and far and it was very remarkable to see such care for the environment. I was very lucky to see such rare animals, and my hope is one day, with the help of people just like I met on the wildlife tour, the animals will not be nearly as rare as they currently are. (Submitted on January 9, 2025)
