Concerns zipline will affect rare Otago shag

One of the scientists who discovered the Otago shag is concerned the group proposing a zipline near the nesting grounds of the rare birds seems intent on going ahead with the project.

Further, University of Otago palaeoecologist Dr Nic Rawlence said he was concerned a general disregard for seabirds among New Zealanders could be part of the problem.

After the Otago Daily Times late last year reported the group planning a zipline at Oamaru Harbour expected to apply for consent for the project in the first quarter of this year, several letters to the editor appeared in the newspaper.

Then an editorial on the matter  framed the issue as a decision for the community about how much  it wanted to "pander to the perceived desires of our visitors". Dr Rawlence contacted the ODT to say the issue was "obvious to us conservationists".

If the birds at risk were kakapo, takahe or kiwi, the discussion would be different.

"If this were a terrestrial bird, this wouldn’t be happening," he said.

"There just needs to be a change in attitude that we do need to protect all of our endangered seabirds, no matter how annoying they may be to fishermen.

"It’s obvious to us conservationists and bird people. I think we just need to start loving our seabirds."

In December, Select Contracts regional director Darron Charity, on behalf of the company formed to pursue a zipline, Oamaru Adventure Park, said the development team was now taking the time to "engage with and listen to" stakeholders at the early stages of the project to improve the project’s chance of successfully getting through planning approvals and into construction of a tourism attraction that "could be operational by summer 2018-19".

But last winter, BirdLife Australia’s Australasian Seabird Group wrote to Waitaki district councillors and the company to say a zipline could endanger Oamaru’s birdlife, but the group’s Kerry-Jayne Wilson said it had not been contacted about potential effects on Oamaru’s seabirds, a retired senior lecturer in the ecology department at Lincoln University, said a zipline at the harbour would be "a disaster for seabirds — it’s crazy".

"For the Otago shag alone, this proposal is considered very serious by the seabird fraternity," Ms Wilson said.

"Because it’s a shag, no-one gives a stuff."

At risk were Otago shags, spotted shags, red-billed gulls and white-fronted terns and Ms Wilson said she could not see anywhere in the harbour for a zipline that would mitigate the risk for "any of those seabirds". Dr Chris Lalas, a retired Dunedin-based marine scientist, who first observed the Otago shags nesting in Oamaru and has studied marine shags since 1977, said based on the initial design included in the Waitaki District Council’s "Oamaru Adventure Park — market summary and design" document, which shows a zipline starting at the top of the old quarry on Cape Wanbrow and landing midway  on the breakwater, the proposed tourist attraction would have "no impact whatsoever on [Otago shags] nesting on Sumpter Wharf".

However, it would be the coming and going of those shags that could prove problematic.

"It’s going to be pretty obvious if you’ve got shags hitting the wire, because it’ll break their wings and you’ll have all these dying shags everywhere," he said.

"The marine shags are essentially flying bricks ... They’re spectacular at travelling very fast in a straight line, but they can’t do quick manoeuvres to avoid things."

Dr Lalas said if the zipline was designed so as to avoid travelling over water it would not be problematic, but he was not a fan of a proposal to create "a circus in the middle of a nature area".

This month, in response to the publicity about a possible zipline in Oamaru, council chief executive Fergus Power said in a statement if the council received an application for consents for the construction of a zipline, it "would be considered on its merits".

"A zipline proposal would be the subject of scrutiny in respect of planning issues including visual, landscape and noise effects to ensure that the sustainable management of the area’s resources is achieved. However, until the exact location and nature of any proposed activity is defined it is not possible to make any further comment on the potential impacts of the activity."

The ODT emailed Oamaru Adventure Park to ask if the development team had contacted any conservation organisations to get feedback on design options or considered how a zipline could be constructed that would mitigate the impact on seabirds but did not immediately receive a reply.

hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz