Wild Sounds: Kākāpō Files II – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to Antarctica - a land of ice, extremes, and ambition. From historic expeditions to modern day science projects, Antarctic exploration is a unique, and dangerous, experience. We meet one researcher involved in an epic journey across the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, mapping a safe route through a crevassed landscape for others to follow. Plus, we learn about the different types of ice found in this vast, frozen landscape.

Guests:

• Dr Daniel Price, University of Canterbury and Kea Aerospace
• Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision archival audio

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode.
• Daniel did the route-finding for the SWAIS2C project. Veronika Meduna flew out to the camp in the 2023/2024 season to report on their activities.
• Daniel has spoken to Morning Report about Kea Aerospace’s work developing a solar-powered aircraft
• Hear about other ongoing research in Antarctica from the latest research season, including investigating new methane seeps, and giant glass sponges.
• Learn more about living, and working, on the ice in the 2020 podcast series – Voices from Antarctica.

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

Each winter the sea ice that forms around Antarctica effectively doubles the size of this massive continent. It’s one of the biggest annual global changes. It reflects sunlight, drives ocean currents and is home to a host of critters key to the Antarctic food web. But the last few years have seen unusually low sea ice extents in Antarctica, and scientists are sounding the alarm. Is this a blip, or a trend?

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Step out on the sea ice just outside New Zealand’s Scott Base with researchers studying the physics of its annual cycle. Each year a massive patch of ocean around Antarctica freezes and then melts again come summer – Antarctica’s heartbeat. In winter, the ice effectively more than doubles the size of this already massive continent, and it plays a huge role in controlling our planet’s climate.

Guests:

• Dr Inga Smith, University of Otago 
• Antonia Radlwimmer, University of Otago
• Professor Wolfgang Rack, University of Canterbury 

Learn more:

• Listen to Physics on Ice from 2021 with Emeritus Professor Pat Langhorne and Dr Inga Smith.
• Alison Ballance's Voices from Antarctica series from 2020 explores what it’s like to live and work in Antarctica.

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

Penguins that return to the ice in the middle of winter to lay their eggs. Seals that use cracks in the ice to keep their pups safe. And fish that have antifreeze proteins to survive in the icy cold waters... Antarctic life is tough, and full of surprises. Scientists are keen to piece together the Antarctic food web puzzle to better understand the interconnections, and to enable smart conservation decisions.

Guests:

• Arek Aspinwall, University of Canterbury
• Dr Michelle LaRue, University of Canterbury
• Professor Steve Wing, University of Otago

Learn more:

• Meet other seals and penguins with Peregrin Hyde on his journey to South Georgia Island as part of an Inspiring Explorers expedition.
• In ‘Best Journey in the World’ from the Voices from Antarctica series, Alison Ballance travelled to Cape Crozier with a team from NIWA studying the emperor penguins.

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

What’s it like to live and work on the frozen ocean? A team of researchers are camping out on the sea ice to investigate the small critters that live on the bottom of the ice, and among the sloshy platelet ice layer just below it. From microalgae to krill, these tiny organisms hold up the big complex food web of Antarctica. Scientists are keen to understand these communities, and how they might shift as the sea ice cycle changes.

Guests:

• Dr Natalie Robinson, NIWA
• Dr Jacqui Stuart, Victoria University of Wellington
• Dr Greg Leonard, University of Otago
• Lizzy Skelton, University of Canterbury
• Dr Aimee van der Reis, University of Auckland
• Salvatore Campanile, Victoria University of Wellington

Learn more:

• Dr Natalie Robinson spoke to The Detail in 2023 about the unprecedented sea ice conditions of that year
• Alison Ballance's Voices from Antarctica series from 2020 explores what it’s like to live and work in Antarctica.

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

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 correspondent
• Dr 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

In February 2025, the world hit a new low for global sea ice extent. Arctic sea ice has been declining for several decades now, but Antarctic sea ice had been holding steady, until recently. With low summer sea ice extents for four years in a row, it appears that Earth’s warming has kicked Antarctic sea ice into a new regime. Claire Concannon speaks to scientists to understand what this means for Antarctica, what this means for us, and how they feel about it.

Guests:

• Dr Natalie Robinson, NIWA
• Dr Jacqui Stuart, Victoria University of Wellington
• Dr Greg Leonard, University of Otago
• Dr Daniel Price, University of Canterbury and Kea Aerospace
• Dr Inga Smith, University of Otago
• Dr Michelle LaRue, University of Canterbury

Learn more:

• Read about the recent State of the Global Climate Report.
• The world’s biggest iceberg recently ran aground, but to get up close and personal, listen to the Voice of the Iceberg miniseries.
• The world is also experiencing ice loss from its glaciers. New Zealand’s glaciers have shrunk by 29% since 2000. Listen to The annual snowline survey to learn how our glaciers are monitored.

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

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. 

This series was first released in 2024.

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/seas

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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 on 29 February 2024.

Symphony in the sea

Journalist 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

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 on 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 zombies

Kina 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 table

Kina-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