Benutzer:Shi Annan/Owha

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Vorlage:Importartikel/Wartung-2024-09

Owha (Vorlage:IPA-mi, Vorlage:Born in) is a leopard seal that has been seen throughout the northern North Island of New Zealand, such as in Auckland's Waitematā Harbour, where she likes to sleep on pontoons. Being known for what Stuff has described as "highly inquisitive behaviour", Owha sometimes breaks fenders and pops inflatable dinghies. The long form of her name, He owha nā ōku tūpuna, was given to her in 2016 by local hapū Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei; it is Māori for "treasured gift from our ancestors". She was last seen in 2022.

Biography

Owha was first spotted off Dunedin in 2012. Since 2015, she has been moving between various places in the country, including the east coast of Northland, Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, Dunedin, the Bay of Plenty, Whangārei, Waiheke Island and other islands in the Hauraki Gulf, as well as in mangroves. According to The New Zealand Herald, Auckland's Westhaven Marina is her "favourite sun-bathing spot". She likes to sleep on pontoons, which attracts crowds of people; during the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities discouraged people from posting her location online in order to avoid breaking COVID-19 gathering rules.

In 2016, local hapū Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei gave her the name "He owha nā ōku tūpuna", or Owha for short, meaning "treasured gift from our ancestors". Being known for what Stuff described as "highly inquisitive behaviour", Owha sometimes breaks fenders, and pops inflatable dinghies or floods them by putting her head inside. She has a body length of Vorlage:Cvt and a weight of Vorlage:Convert, as well as a V-shaped scar on her left cheek and parallel scars on her right side.

A few times Owha has had foreign objects get stuck in her mouth and come out naturally. In 2017, she had a fishing hook get lodged in a flipper. In October 2019, she was found with a bleeding face, which was soon identified as being a gunshot wound. She recovered. In order to find the suspect, a $5000 reward was offered by conservation group Sea Shepherd, but the perpetrator was never found. In April 2022, the Department of Conservation (DOC), Auckland Zoo and LeopardSeals.org worked together to remove fishing hooks, a fishing line and sinkers from her mouth, but they were unable to remove a hook.

Because leopard seals are known to be dangerous, DOC has placed several signs around several Auckland marinas that are often occupied by Owha, which explain how to stay safe near her. It is encouraged that people keep a distance of at least Vorlage:Convert, and to keep children and dogs away from her.

Owha has not been seen since May 2022.

Calls for removal

Several people have suggested that Owha be relocated from Waitematā Harbour. One reason for this is the danger posed by leopard seals to children or pets. Another is her tendency to cause damage to marine equipment, as damage caused by her has totalled several thousand dollars.

The Department of Conservation has said that relocating Owha is not an option, as the tranquilisers needed for it could kill her, due to a dive reflex seals have which stops them from breathing. Another problem is that due to the fact that leopard seals often travel long distances, it is possible that if Owha were to be relocated, she may just make her way back to the harbour.

In 2019, DOC started trialling harmless ways to get rid of Owha from Westhaven Marina, starting by using light and then moving to sound and hose water as a last resort. A few months later, Empire Capital Limited—the owner of Bayswater, Pine Harbour and Hobsonville marinas—applied for rights to use those methods to remove her from their properties.

LeopardSeals.org spokeperson Krista Hupman encourages the co-existence with Owha and, by extension, leopard seals. She suggests giving them toys to play with, to distract them from causing damage to marine equipment.

Research

According to DOC, Owha is "the longest tracked leopard seal in the world". In order to track her movements, and the movements of other leopard seals, DOC helped modify a phone app used to report Hector's dolphin sightings so that it can accept reports of other marine species.

Owha encouraged Krista Hupman to research the presence of leopard seals in New Zealand. She and LeopardSeals.org (which she co-founded) gathered over 3,000 sightings records from newspapers, museums, a new hotline, and Māori middens, as well as three records of births on the mainland. Following this, DOC reclassified leopard seals from a vagrant species in New Zealand to residents.

References

[[Category:Waitematā Harbour]] [[Category:Individual seals and sea lions]] [[Category:Individual animals in New Zealand]]