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L
ast night I watched the first episode of the BBC’s new Blue
Planet II series – presented by the irrepressible master of wildlife
documentaries, David Attenborough. If you’ve not yet got around
to hitting the record button – do so. It’s superb.
Words cannot do the photography justice. As always, Attenborough
sprinkles his commentary with extraordinary facts, observations and
insights, and points out that the peerless photography is largely thanks
to radical advances in camera technology. We’re fortunate – being alive
in 2017 – to be able to enjoy the benefits.
New Zealand featured prominently in his globe-trotting itinerary- he explored an intriguing interplay between dolphins and ‘false’
killer whales – a powerful reminder of the rich, wonderful diversity of
marine life that lives off our coastline.
It also underscored my view that we are very fortunate to live here - an observation reinforced when, doing a review on the new Bavaria
E40 Sedan featured in this issue, we came across a pod of orcas.
Encountering orcas isn’t particularly rare in our waters, but this
meeting took place far up the Waitemata Harbour – way past Kauri
Point – in relatively shallow, murky water. A long way from the open
sea. I’d never seen orcas up there. What were they doing?
We stopped the boat to watch them at play (foreplay?) and
were pondering the reason for their presence when New Zealand’s
internationally-renowned orca expert – Ingrid Visser – came
alongside. She explained the orcas often travelled a lot further up the
harbour – all the way to Greenhithe. Even more intriguingly, she knew
all of them – from their unique markings and dorsal fins.
In fact, one was a female she had personally cut free from a fishing
net off Kawau Island (the rescued female’s name escapes me now –
Delilah? – but it appears she and Ingrid get on well). We left them to
swap life experiences.
On the way home I was immersed in my thoughts. Out on the
water, a few miles from the snarling traffic of New Zealand’s biggest
city, you stumble upon a pod of magnificent creatures that most of
humanity will never see in the flesh.
We live in a special place.Happy boating.Lawrence Schäffler
EditorEDITOR’S NOTE
We live in a special place
BOATING NZ
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