Biologist Account: Heather:
"Moku manu was a bit of a mystery. There had been no surveys of the islet, no descriptions, and no pictures. If there is no information about an islet, it typically means it is washed over by waves and lacks any flora or fauna. However, there were reports of plants on this islet so we set out to try and survey it. Unfortunately, this was not possible. As the islet came into sight we could see it was a thin, vertical island with a bit of a twist and deep fissures running from the top of the islet. Our pilot said it was just not possible to land and even if we did i'm not sure we could move around very much. We settled on an aerial botanical survey and our pilot expertly circled the islet allowing us to identify and photograph the plants. Red-tailed tropicbirds had just begun nesting in the past weeks and we counted 10 birds hunkered down on their nests. Offshore we saw several pairs of whales, some with new calves - an incredible sight from the helicopter!"