A team of 10 boarded HMNZS Wellington in Dunedin last night on a mission that will hopefully bring the Million Dollar Mouse project to a close.
They will spend three weeks scouring the island to see if any of the rodents have survived, and assess the recovery of other species.
The project, which began 18 months ago, involved helicopters dropping 65 tonnes of poisoned bait on to the island in an effort to eradicate about 200,000 mice.
The island is home to 21 endemic sea birds, including the Antipodean wandering albatross and eastern rockhopper penguin.
Million Dollar Mouse Project monitoring team leader Finlay Cox said team members did not want to get their hopes up too high.
"Albatross scientists haven’t found any [mice] recently, but they are only in a limited area. We don’t know yet whether the project was successful."
The brodifacoum poison was a risk to birds, but this was far outweighed by the benefits, he said.
Mice were thought to have been introduced to the islands in the mid-1900s.
"They caused significant damage to the native biodiversity there.
"Mice are prolific breeders, so if we just leave one preg-nant female, they’ll increase back to the same numbers they were at," Mr Cox said.
The project was one of the most technically difficult eradications of its day, he said.
"It’s the biggest in which mice are the sole introduced predator."
Despite the project’s name, its cost has been estimated at $3.9million.
It was funded by the Department of Conservation, Morgan Foundation, World Wildlife Foundation, Island Conservation and the public.
The team, which includes dog handlers and various scientists, will be accompanied by Defence Force staff on their 760km journey to the island.
