"Te Waihora / Lake Ellesmere was deemed the second most polluted lake in New Zealand [...]" A combination of factors contributing to dismal water quality of Te Waihora. Among them: Deforestation and Milk production, of which roughly 95% go to Export. Its rough to see the lake in that condition. For comparison a picture of a stream, taken 15 km south.
Good rule of thump: If you see animals grazing, there used to be forest.
#NZ #NZnature #Export #Milk #Deforestation #Pollution

My family's fishing expeditions tend not to yield fish, so when my daughter wanted to go fishing on Sunday, I took my camera, as other wildlife can often be more readily captured on camera than fish on hooks.
My longest lens isn't particularly sharp, but at social media size the results look acceptable. Pied shags / Kāruhiruhi are reasonably common around coastal New Zealand.

#naturelover #NZ #NewZealand #nznativebirds #nznature #naturephotography #birds #birdsofpixelfed #pentax

Lichens are incredibly diverse and beautiful organisms but not many people seem to know a lot about them from what I can tell on iNaturalist.
When you've got two distinct organisms, a fungus and an algae, or cyanobacteria, living in a symbiotic relationship, I'm not sure how the usual classification of species works, as you don't have a single genetic organism but two.
I studied microbiology to third year at university although I didn't graduate, but I don't seem to recall anything about lichens, although we did spend quite a bit of time on cyanobacteria and fungi.
This little cutie was growing on a fallen piece of decaying wood on a normally very arid, exposed hillside about half an hour's walk from home.

#macrophotography #nature #nznature #lichens #inaturalist

Over 70% of earth's surface is covered in water, but probably over 99% of photographs are taken in air.
This is the first time I've ever seen or managed to photograph a member of the Sphaeromatidae family of isopods, in a shallow rock pool.
It's also the first time I've seen an active limpet, rather than as they usually appear, inert, clamped to rocks while the tide is out.
The stripy tentacle like appendages are fascinating.

#photography #underwaterphotography #newzealand #naturalhistory #naturelover #nznature #invertebrate #animals #nature #wildlifeohotography

#NaturePhotography #flower #NZNature
A pic to start setting the Xmas/summer scene.