John Ridgway Save the Albatross Voyage 2003-4

AIM: TO PREVENT THE NEEDLESS SLAUGHTER OF THE ALBATROSSBirdlife Volunteer - Leg 5, Wellington, NZ, to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

I grew up in Hawke’s Bay, a rural area on the East coast of the North Island of New Zealand. My enthusiasm for birding began at the age of nine, while on a family holiday in the UK. And by the time I was twelve, I had joined the Ornithological Society of New Zealand (OSNZ) and decided to study birds at university. And here I am today, heading toward the end of my Doctorate, studying Australasian gannets at Massey University!

My interest in photography developed over the same period. What better way to document and share the things and places you see? Starting with very basic equipment, I managed to make my first sales in the postcard market at sixteen. But both birding and photography had to become a bit of a sideline during my early years at university as money was often in short supply. However, my enthusiasm for both, returned when I began my Masterate of Science, on the small island of Mokoia in the middle of a lake in the North Island. There I studied the morepork, a small native owl. In fact a numbered of endangered birds had been released on the island and this spurred things along.

Starting my Phd on gannets opened my eyes to a whole new realm – Seabirds! While there is still much to learn about land-based birds, we are yet to even scratch the surface of what there is to be know about seabirds: their biology, how man and the environment affect them, their distribution, even how to distinguish between closely related species. In fact seabirds have become a passion. And fortunately for me, New Zealand is often called the ‘seabird capital of the world’

I have become very keen on travel while at University, and I’ve managed to fit a fair bit of birding into trips to conferences in Australia, South Africa, China and Indonesia. I have been a Regional Representative for OSNZ and am currently webmaster for them. Recently, I have started a newsgroup in New Zealand devoted to birds and birding (BIRDING-NZ) and developed several web pages, both for my photographic interests and for a bird guiding business that myself and good mate Sav Saville have started.

So, when the opportunity arose to join an amazing Voyage like this, which aims to prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross, as well as further our knowledge of seabird biology, distribution and their interaction with humans, how could I resist? It combines my major passions: seabirds, photography and travel!

Brent Stephenson.

May 2003.

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