Overview
From 9 January - 4 February 2023, Botany Curator Heidi Meudt was one of seven botanists and four crew that took part in the 2023 Strannik Auckland Island Expedition.
They spent a total of four weeks on the trip, either on or travelling to the main island of the subantarctic Auckland Islands, which are located 450 km south of Rakiura Stewart Island.
The botanists were: Alex Fergus (expedition leader), Brian Rance, Chris Morse, Chris Stowe, Fiona Thomson, Toni Atkinson, and Heidi Meudt.
The crew of the Strannik were: Rodney Russ (captain and owner of the ship), Simon Truebridge (engineer), Katie Frame, and Steve Abley.
Heidi had a DOC permit to collect specimens of Myosotis for her own research, as well as collect other plants and harvestman for other Te Papa research projects.
Multiple populations of the subantarctic endemic Myosotis capitata were located and collections were made from 3 different populations. A total of 52 collections of vascular plants were collected, as well as 29 liverwort specimens and 4 harvestmen. Alex Fergus also made additional collections on a separate DOC permit, which are at the Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research Allan Herbarium (CHR) in Lincoln.
Read more about this trip on the blog series published on the Te Papa blog between Nov 2023 - March 2024:
- The 2023 Strannik Auckland Island Expedition: An extraordinary botanical voyage to the subantarctic
- The 2023 Strannik Auckland Island Expedition: Our favourite places and plants
- Flora of Motu Maha Auckland Islands
- The megaherbs of Motu Maha Auckland Islands
- Plantago aucklandica is a megaherb!
- Scientific collections and observations from the Strannik 2023 Auckland Island Expedition
- Sea lions, spiders, slugs and slime molds: Curious critters of Auckland Island
- What’s it like to be on a subantarctic expedition?
- Insights, passion, and hope for the future of New Zealand’s subantarctic islands
- The fungi of Motu Maha Auckland Islands
- A brief history of botanical expeditions to Motu Maha Auckland Islands
Most of the collection records and photos of plants we collected on this trip can be seen here (scroll down to "Related Objects" below).