The Less Paper Blog. Gardening. Save the Mokihinui: Too Precious to Dam. Nestled under the western shoulder of Kahurangi National Park, the Mokihinui is the West Coast’s third largest river, draining the vast uplands and mountains of the Lyell, Radiant, Allen, Glasgow and Matiri Ranges. Flanked by beech forests, ancient podocarps, riotous displays of rata, and rimu festooned with kiekie, the river falls steeply from the towering 1000 acre plateau, meanders over expansive alluvial flats, before dashing across granite and greywacke boulders, as it twists and turns through the gorge before meeting the Tasman Sea. The river and surrounding forest land provide habitat for numerous threatened species - such as great spotted kiwi, western weka, whio (blue duck), longfin eel and Powelliphanta snails. Keep it in a Park At the mouth of the deeply incised gorge, Meridian Energy proposed a vast hydro electricity scheme –an 85 metre high dam that would have radically changed this spectacular river – turning it into a sluggish reservoir.
Blue Duck (whio) Longfin eels. Protect the Mokihinui River. The Mokihinui River in Buller has been identified as one of New Zealand's most valuable wild rivers. It flows from Kahurangi National Park and passes through a magnificent gorge. We oppose Meridian Energy building an 85m dam on the Mokihinui River gorge. What's at stake The Mokihinui River is NZ's seventh most significant river for its biodiversity values. It is home to twelve species of native fish including the chronically endangered and endemic longfinned eel.
Take Action Now that submissions have closed on Meridian's proposal the best action is to contact the Minister of Conservation and ask that he: Declines any request by Meridian Energy for a concession to remove native forest and flood the gorge, and decline any landswap involving the Mokihinui.Decline the application to run the transmission line across conservation land and especially through the Ngakawau Ecological Area and the Recommended Areas for Protection on the Stockton Plateau. Links Press Releases: On Frogblog: Worldometers - real time world statistics. Did You Know? "We are living in exponential times" (A Must Watch, Really) Lake-anna-quarter.jpg (JPEG Image, 3789x1748 pixels) - Scaled (31%)
Amazing jellyfish lake | Zack Travel. Jellyfish Lake is a marine lake located on Eil Malk island in Palau. Eil Malk is part of the Rock Islands, a group of small, rocky, mostly uninhabited islands in Palau’s Southern Lagoon, between Koror and Peleliu. It is notable for the millions of golden jellyfish which migrate horizontally across the lake daily. photo source Jellyfish Lake is connected to the ocean through fissures and tunnels in the limestone of ancient Miocene reef. However the lake is sufficiently isolated and the conditions are different enough that the diversity of species in the lake is greatly reduced from the nearby lagoon. The golden jellyfish, Mastigias cf. papua etpisoni, and possibly other species in the lake have evolved to be substantially different from their close relatives living in the nearby lagoons. photo source Two species of scyphozoan jellyfish live in Jellyfish Lake, moon jellyfish and the golden jellyfish. photo source photo source The moon jellyfish were identified as Aurelia aurita by Hamner.