Kina numbers are exploding on some of our reefs, decimating seaweed habitats. Could this problem be solved by eating them? Kate Evans investigates the potential of kina-nomics.
This episode was first released 7 March 2024.The kina are out of control. As many as 40 urchins crowd into a single square metre of rock, devoid of other life.A kina barren is a symptom of an ecosystem out of balance. Could we eat our way to a solution?Kina zombiesKina numbers have exploded as we've eaten too many of their predators - like big snapper and crayfish - that usually keep them in check.The urchins munch through kelp and seaweed, leaving bare rock and little else. The kina themselves end up suffering too - they persist in these zones as zombies, eating little and barely producing any roe.Luckily, these barrens can be reversed and kelp forests restored when the kina are removed.Putting kina on the tableKina-nomics involves taking starving kina off reefs, fattening them up and selling them to an East Asian market.But how can the kina be made more consistently tasty? And can economic and conservation goals really align? Listen to the episode to dive under the water with a kina harvester, taste some kina, and untangle whether a commercial harvest of these spiky taonga can really fix kina barrens.Learn more:Read the accompanying New Zealand Geographic article by Kate Evans, with photography by Richard Robinson.Kinanomics say they are set to scale up in 2025.Check out another effort to restore kelp forests with the Love Rimurimu project in Wellington, profiled in a recent Our Changing World episode.Jesse Mulligan spoke to another researcher studying kina removal in the Marlborough Sounds.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Voice of Tangaroa 01 | The undersea orchetra
Crackle, pop, woof, crunch, click. In the ocean, an undersea orchestra is in full swing. Journalist Kate Evans discovers who's playing in it and why, and what happens when human noise drowns out this symphony in the sea.
This episode was first released 29 February 2024.Symphony in the seaJournalist Kate Evans and presenter Claire Concannon discover a world of snapping shrimp, singing whales and barking John Dory. Researchers Professor Craig Radford and Dr Jenni Stanley are uncovering more about the orchestra harmonising under the waves - who's playing in it, and why they are making these sounds. Plus, what impact is our human noise - like boats - having on ocean creatures? Learn more: Read the accompanying New Zealand Geographic article by Kate Evans, with photography by Richard Robinson. Recently researchers at the University of Auckland discovered that New Zealand rig sharks also make noise. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Introducing: Voice of Tangaroa
A collaboration between Our Changing World and New Zealand Geographic, the Voice of Tangaroa series explores the state of our oceans, and the extraordinary variety of life that calls it home.  93% of New Zealand is covered in salt water. 80% of our biodiversity is in our seas. And yet this is the part of our realm we understand the least and treat the worst. A collaboration between Our Changing World and New Zealand Geographic, the Voice of Tangaroa series explores the state of our oceans, and the extraordinary variety of life that calls it home.  From kina-nomics, to the undersea sound, from growing fish on land, to the debates around our marine reserves - science journalist Kate Evans has been diving into the complexities of how we think about, enjoy, manage and use our oceans, and what this means for the creatures that live in it. Now, with production help from RNZ's Our Changing World team, and original music composed by Wellington band Grains, you will be able to hear the voices of the characters involved and experience the sounds of our underwater realm. Voice of Tangaroa is a joint production between RNZ's Our Changing World and New Zealand Geographic.Reporting for this series is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. You can learn more and read the articles for free at www.nzgeo.com/seasGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Bonus: RNZ climate correspondent Eloise Gibson
Claire Concannon spoke to RNZ's climate correspondent Eloise Gibson for the last episode of the Voice of the Sea Ice series. Listen to the full interview between Eloise and Claire in which they talk about the Paris Agreement, New Zealand's international climate commitments, and what we can do as individuals. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Guests:Eloise Gibson, RNZ climate correspondentLearn more:Read Eloise’s recent analysis about New Zealand’s international climate targets, or New Zealand's glacier loss. Eloise has also recently fact checked Winston Peters on climate accord, reported on our 2035 Paris Agreement target and delved into the recent uptake of solar demand in New Zealand.The Climate Action Tracker website keeps tabs on the targets and pledges of different countries and monitors whether they are on track to keep the world below 2 oC of warming (compared to pre-industrial temperatures).Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Voice of the Sea Ice 06 | Where to?
Human-induced climate change is impacting Earth’s global systems, including ice melt in Antarctica. What is the world doing to combat it? Signed in 2016, the Paris Agreement is the current global plan to tackle it. Countries pledge different emission reduction targets and then produce their workings and homework about how they are going about it. Where does New Zealand fit in? Are we doing our bit as a nation? And should we be bothering with individual actions or is that simply a bait-and-switch tactic by those who want to delay real change? Guests:Eloise Gibson, RNZ climate correspondentDr Jess Berentson-Saw, Director of Narrative Research and Strategy, The Workshop Learn more:Read Eloise’s recent analysis about New Zealand’s international climate targets, or listen to this episode of The Detail.Eloise has also recently fact checked Winston Peters on climate accord, reported on our 2035 Paris Agreement target, and delved into the recent uptake of solar demand in New Zealand.The Climate Action Tracker website keeps tabs on the targets and pledges of different countries and monitors whether they are on track to keep the world below 2 °C of warming (compared to pre-industrial temperatures).The Workshop have published a cheat sheet on ‘How to talk about climate change’.This series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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