New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition
New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition | |
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| Start | 9 January 1949  |
| End | May 1949 |
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The New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition was a research expedition organised by the Department of Internal Affairs in 1949 to undertake research into elk (wapiti) as well as other biodiversity, surveying and geology in the Fiordland National Park.[1][2][3]
Genesis of the expedition[edit]
In 1947, American Colonel John K. Howard participated in a preliminary reconnaissance survey of Fiordland, South Island, New Zealand for elk (wapiti).[3] Wapiti are not native to New Zealand; they were introduced in 1905 from the United States into Fiordland National Park.[3] After that study, Howard was interested in organising a comparative scientific study of wapiti and their habitat in their native United States and their established range in Fiordland.[3]
Fiordland is well-known for its isolation, steep mountainous terrain, and notoriously bad weather, so such an expedition would need good communication, several camps, a large and experienced team, and the support of several governmental departments.[3][4] Howard first recruited the American expert on wapiti, Olaus Murie, to be scientific leader, and then set up a management committee to plan the expedition into Fiordland to study wapiti.[3] The expedition was funded by a grant in 1948 from the New Zealand Cabinet to the Department of Internal Affairs, which called it The New Zealand-American Fiordland Expedition.[3]
The main aim of the expedition was to study the wapiti population in its breeding grounds in Fiordland. However scientists from other fields of study would also study other aspects of zoology, botany, geology, forest survey, survey and photography.[3]
Participants[edit]
In addition to three American scientists, the vast majority of members of the large interdisciplinary team included New Zealand scientists, photographers, surveyors, and field personnel. Forty-nine people are listed as being "official personnel" on the expedition, but more than 60 took part in it.[3] Only one of the 49 official participants was a woman, the New Zealand botanist, Ruth Mason.
Leaders[edit]
- John K. Howard, American Colonel, instigator of the expedition and zoologist (deer)
- Olaus Murie, American, Director of the The Wilderness Society, scientific leader and zoologist (wapiti)
- Donald Murie, American, son of and assistant to Olaus Murie; 17 years old at the time of the expedition[5]
- Lindsay Poole, DSIR, deputy scientific leader and botanist
Biologists[edit]
- Ralph Irvine Kean, Department of Internal Affairs, biologist
- Hunter Baughan Wisely, Department of Internal Affairs, biologist (deer)
- Frank Woodrow, Canadian-born trapper,[6] Department of Internal Affairs, biologist (small mammals)
- Kazimierz Wodzicki, DSIR, zoologist (small mammals)
- Peter Creswick Bull, DSIR zoologist (small mammals)
- Brian Turnbull Cunningham, biologist (fish)
- D. J. Anderson, Marine Department, biologist (fish)
- Lionel Jack Dumbleton, DSIR, entomologist
- Richard Dell, Dominion Museum, invertebrate zoologist
- Ray Forster, Canterbury Museum, invertebrate zoologist
- Charles John Lindsay, Dominion Museum, preparator and taxadermist
- W. R. B. Oliver, Dominion Museum, botanist
- Ruth Mason, DSIR, botanist
- Victor Zotov, DSIR, botanist
- John Thorpe Holloway, New Zealand Forest Service, forest survey leader
- Jack Henry, New Zealand Forest Service, forest survey
- J. Everett, New Zealand Forest Service, forest survey
- David Alexander Brown, DSIR and New Zealand Geological Survey, geologist
- Alan Copland Beck, geologist
Survey and photography[edit]
- Joseph Holmes Miller, Department of Lands and Survey, surveyor and survey leader
- Robert Douglas Dick, Department of Lands and Survey, surveyor
- Ralph Moir, Department of Lands and Survey, surveyor
- R. Litt, Department of Lands and Survey, surveyor
- Kenneth Bigwood, photographer
- Jim Ollerenshaw, Department of Internal Affairs, photographer
Field personnel[edit]
- R. V. McKane, field leader
- Kenneth Miers, deputy field leader
- D. Le Beau, shooter
- D. Jenkins, shooter
- R. C. Borlase, cook
- Max R. Farrell, NZRAMC medical sergeant, medical officer
- Frank E. Barlow, wireless operator
- J. Lutterell, assistant to John K. Howard
- R. Dunstan, service personnel
- W. R. Drower, service personnel
- W. Gardiner, service personnel
- J. Cornish, service personnel
- H. Dixon, service personnel
- M. Logan, service personnel
- A. F. Allen, service personnel
- C. Templeton, service personnel
- R. Ensor, service personnel
- V. R. Woods, service personnel
- G. H. Ross, service personnel
- G. Sharpe, service personnel
Others mentioned in the preliminary reports[3] but not on list of official personnel[edit]
- Alexander J. Black, captain of MV Alert
- E. J. Herrick, experienced wapiti stalker
- Kenneth Sutherland, experienced wapiti stalker
- L. Murrell
Expedition[edit]
In early January 1949, Howard and the team of field personnel sailed on the MV Alert with most of the expedition gear from Bluff and Milford to a small camp that they set up at Caswell Sound.[3] They prepared for the arrival of the scientific teams by unloading and packing stores and equipment, establishing camps, and cutting tracks for the rest of the expedition party.[3][7] For the duration of the expedition from January through May 1949, additional stores were shipped via road from Invercargill using New Zealand Army trucks that transported them through the partially completed Homer Tunnel to Milford. From there, Alexander J. Black, captain of MV Alert, ran fortnightly trips by sea between Milford and the expedition's two main beachhead landing sites in Fiordland: Caswell Sound and George Sound.[3]
The base camp for the expedition was established on the banks of the Stillwater River, about 6 miles from the small beachhead camp at Caswell Sound, which had storage tents, a laboratory, a cookhouse, a wireless, and even electric lighting.[3] The field party hauled stores and equipment by land to Lake Marchant, and from there, prams with outboard motors were used to ship the gear to base camp.[3] Other smaller camps were established on the Stillwater River (two camps), Leslie Clearing (one), Glaisnock River (two), and Henry Saddle (one); the expedition also used several Ministry of Works' huts, including at George Sound, Lake Thomson and Lake Hankinson.[3]
The main dates of the expedition were as follows:[3]
- 9 January 1949: The field party, Howard, photographer and survey party travelled from Bluff and Milford to Caswell Sound.
- 29 January 1949: The field party shifted stores from Milford to Caswell Sound.
- 12 February 1949: The field party shifted stores from Milford to Caswell Sound.
- 26 February 1949: The scientific teams (including Murie, zoologists, botanists, entomologists and Lindsay, R.the preparator) arrived and began research around base camp, and smaller camps on the Stillwater River and Leslie Clearing
- 7 April 1949: The expedition moved to George Sound, also travelling to Hankinson Hut via Henry Saddle.
- late April/early May 1949: The expedition moved to the Glaisnock River camps.
- 5 May 1949: Murie departed Fiordland.
- ? May 1949: The field party dismantled the camps and MV Alert completed its final sailing for this expedition from Caswell Sound and George Sound.
Other zoologists, botanists, foresters and geologists arrived later than 26 February, remained for shorter periods, and worked independently to the main expedition party.[3]
Expedition publications[edit]
Accomplishments[edit]
A survey of wapiti in the area covered by the expedition recorded 180 observations of wapiti, including 40 wapiti in the Charles Sound area, 75 in the Stillwater River area, 17 near George Sound, and 40 near Lake Te Anau. Based on these observations, the total number of wapiti in Fiordland was estimated to be less than 500 individuals.
The holotype specimen of a new species of wētā, Zealandosandrus fiordensis (now called Hemiandrus fiordensis) was collected by Richard Dell on this expedition by and described by John Salmon in 1950.[8][9]
References[edit]
- ^ A. L. POOLE (March 1952). "New Zealand-American Fiordland Expedition". Nature. 169 (4298): 434–435. doi:10.1038/169434A0. ISSN 1476-4687. Wikidata Q59087828.
- ^ Australian Centre for the Moving Image. "Exploring New Zealand's fiordland". Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Alick Lindsay Poole, ed. (1951). "Preliminary reports of The New Zealand - American Fiordland Expedition". Bulletin of the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 103. Wellington: Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 1–99. ISSN 0077-961X. Wikidata Q125475906.
- ^ "NZ-American Expedition 1949". www.moir.co.nz. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Hunt for the wilder places". New Zealand Geographic. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ Rowley Taylor (2016). "Early ecological research on rodents in New Zealand, 1946–1976: personal recollections" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 40 (2): 205–211. ISSN 0110-6465. Wikidata Q126357458.
- ^ "Caswell Sound Radio ZKLC, New Zealand". Maritime Radio. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ John Salmon (1 April 1950). "A revision of the New Zealand wetas Anostostominae (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae)". Dominion Museum Records in Entomology. 1: 121–177. ISSN 0110-9863. Wikidata Q106628156.
- ^ "Holotype of Zealandosandrus fiordensis Salmon, 1950". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. Retrieved 4 June 2024.