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Lakes380 Launching Off in Wellington!

Getting ready to launch at Lake Wairarapa

Our Lakes380 campaign began in earnest last week when the team descended upon Lake Waitawa, near Otaki, to collect our first samples in the Wellington region. The team included eight people, two boats, and three vehicles packed to the brim with all manner of equipment. Our mission: to collect all samples and clean down within half a day.

The first lake was always going to be a learning experience; the loose soupy mud and thick algal blooms at Lake Waitawa presented some logistical challenges. Nearby Lake Waiorongomai, a shallow coastal dune lake, was our second target and the first test for our shiny, new, red inflatable raft – would it fit the bill for those remote South Island lakes, accessible only by helicopter?

Sean and McKayla set up the multiprobe (Sonde) to measure various aspects of water quality down the water column
Sean and McKayla set up the multiprobe (Sonde) to measure water quality down the water column

While the GNS Science crew retrieved four long cores from the lake bed, the rest of the team listened intently to some great korero from local kaitiaki, Caleb Royal – tales of how his ancestors once fished thousands of tuna (eels) from Waiorongomai and would bathe in its water to wash away the blood and anguish of battle on their journeys home.

  • Sean and McKayla set up the multiprobe (Sonde) to measure various aspects of water quality down the water column
Left: Scraping the top 0-2 cm of mud for nutrient analysis. Right: Delicate work retrieving muddy core samples from the coring apparatus

Next stop was the Wairarapa and Lake Nganoke, a small shallow lake on private land in the south Wairarapa. Our sampling efforts on here saw us finishing in approximately 5 hours. We even had time to pick up a few extra samples from a very glassy, picturesque Lake Wairarapa (pictured above).

With some great improvements in coordination and teamwork we were starting to look like a pretty slick operation. The inflatable boat will be a great assets for the helicopter trips in the coming months, with the possible addition of a second smaller raft to speed up the process. Next on the agenda – sunny Nelson/Tasman! Watch this space for more updates in early November.

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Sampling for fish eDNA in lakes

Check out these new eDNA posters! eDNA is an ama Check out these new eDNA posters! 

eDNA is an amazing new tool that can help us understand and protect the taiao (environment) - but it can't do everything. It needs to be used to complement other techniques and aligned with Indigenous and local knowledge. These new posters highlight these benefits and provide suggestions on some questions to ask before launching into an eDNA based project!

Email us for a high resolution PDF that you can print out. eDNA@cawthron.org.nz

When working with eDNA projects we like to co-design the project with our partners. We also love sharing our knowledge and helping train the next generation of scientists to become sentinels of the taiao.

#lake #eDNA #ecology #molecularecology #freshwater #lakes380 #cawthron #gnsscience #instaScience⁠ #NZscience
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About

  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
  • Social Science
  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Lakes380 Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
    • International Collaborators
  • Partners

Resources

  • Contact & Links
  • Blog, News & Publications
  • Video Gallery
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  • Glossary