न्यूजीलैंड – आवारा मुसाफिर

Scientists gather to decode puzzle of the world’s rarest whale

December 2, 202490 Views

An ‘extraordinary’ study taking place at Dunedin in New Zealand It is the world’s rarest whale, with only seven of its kind ever spotted. Almost nothing is known about the enigmatic species. But on Monday a small group of scientists and cultural experts in New Zealand clustered around a near-perfectly preserved spade-toothed whale hoping to decode decades of mystery. “I can’t tell you how extraordinary it is,” said a joyful Anton van Helden, senior marine science adviser for New Zealand’s conservation agency, who gave the spade-toothed whale its name to distinguish it from other beaked species. “For me personally, it’s unbelievable.” Van Helden has studied beaked whales for 35 years, but Monday was the first time he has participated in a dissection of the spade-toothed variet...

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IVL increase to hurt New Zealand Travel & Tourism, says IATA

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

September 3, 2024288 Views

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed disappointment with the New Zealand Government's decision to increase the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL). “It has been a double whammy for the New Zealand travel and tourism sector, starting with New Zealand Immigration announcing steep increases in visa fees, and now the increase in the IVL. These changes make travel to New Zealand more expensive and less attractive and could further delay the recovery in visitor numbers to beyond 2026,” said Dr. Xie Xingquan, IATA’s Regional Vice President for North Asia and Asia-Pacific (ad interim). The recovery of the New Zealand aviation market currently lags behind major markets such as Australia, Canada, France, Spain, the UK, and the US. These market...

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World’s rarest whale may have washed up on New Zealand beach

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

July 16, 2024396 Views

If confirmed, will shed clues on spade-toothed whales Spade-toothed whales are the world’s rarest, with no live sightings ever recorded. No one knows how many there are, what they eat, or even where they live in the vast expanse of the southern Pacific Ocean. However, scientists in New Zealand may have finally caught a break. The country’s conservation agency said Monday a creature that washed up on a South Island beach this month is believed to be a spade-toothed whale. The five-meter-long creature, a type of beaked whale, was identified after it washed ashore on an Otago beach from its color patterns and the shape of its skull, beak and teeth. “We know very little, practically nothing” about the creatures, Hannah Hendriks, marine technical adviser for the Department of Cons...

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New Zealand imposes lifetime ban on youth buying cigarettes

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 13, 20221389 Views

New Zealand on Tuesday passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The law states that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, it would be punishable by fines up to NZ$150,000 ($95,910). The ban will remain in place for a person's whole life. It means the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. In theory, somebody trying to buy a pack of cigarettes 50 years from now would need ID to show they were at least 63 years old. But health authorities hope smoking will fade away well before then. FILE PHOTO: Vaping by a man in a street in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/David Rowland) Already boasting one of the lowest adult smoking ...

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Missing snow puts famed New Zealand ski areas on precipice

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

October 7, 20221265 Views

New Zealand’s Tūroa ski area is usually a white wonderland at this time of year, its deep snowpack supporting its famed spring skiing. This season, it’s largely a barren moonscape, with tiny patches of snow poking out between vast fields of jagged volcanic boulders. The ski area was forced to close for the season this week, three weeks earlier than planned. Rain repeatedly washed away the snow, and the ski area’s 50 snowmaking machines proved no match against balmy temperatures. Climate change appears to be a significant factor, after New Zealand experienced its warmest winter on record — for the third year in a row. The ski slopes are almost devoid of snow at the Tūroa ski field at Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand on Sept. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Nick Perry) The disastrous snow season co...

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New Zealand removes most remaining COVID restrictions

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

September 12, 20221446 Views

Tourists will no longer need to be vaccinated to visit New Zealand removed most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions Monday as the government signaled a return to normalcy for the first time since the pandemic began. People will no longer be required to wear masks in supermarkets, stores, busses or planes. The last remaining vaccine mandates — on health care workers — will end. And tourists will no longer need to be vaccinated in order to visit the country. The government announced it was ditching its so-called COVID traffic light framework altogether and leaving in place just two main restrictions — that those who test positive for the virus isolate for seven days, and that people wear masks when visiting health care facilities like hospitals and aged-care homes. FILE PHOTO...

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New Zealand river’s personhood status offers hope to Māori

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

August 16, 2022716 Views

The Whanganui River is surging into the ocean, fattened from days of winter rain and yellowed from the earth and clay that has collapsed into its sides. Logs and debris hurtle past as dusk looms. Sixty-one-year-old Tahi Nepia is calmly paddling his outrigger canoe, called a waka ama in his Indigenous Māori language, as it is buffeted from side to side. Before venturing out, he makes sure to first ask permission from his ancestors in a prayer, or karakia. It’s the top item on his safety list. He says his ancestors inhabit the river and each time he dips his paddle into the water he touches them. Tahi Nepia, a waka ama (outrigger canoe) paddler and caretaker at a Maori immersion school, travels on the Whanganui River in New Zealand on June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Brett Phibbs) “You ...

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Social media helps scientists monitor rarely sighted whales

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

August 16, 2022261 Views

The infrequently sighted southern right whale, or tohorā is one of New Zealand's rarest whale species Photographs shared by members of the public, via Facebook and nature-watching network iNaturalist, helped scientists assess how the species is faring around the Aotearoa New Zealand mainland. Carried out in cooperation with the Department of Conservation and published in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management, the study reveals that southern right whales are slower than expected at re-establishing a habitat in mainland waters. The Tohoro, or Southern Right Whale is one of New Zealand's rarest whale species. Researchers have monitored its movement and presence with the help of citizen scientists. Photo credit: University of Auckland, Department of Conservation permit The re...

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New Zealand welcomes back first cruise ship since COVID hit

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

August 14, 20221188 Views

New Zealand on Friday welcomed the first cruise ship to return since the coronavirus pandemic began, signaling a long-sought return to normalcy for the nation’s tourism industry. New Zealand closed its borders in early 2020 as it sought at first to eliminate COVID-19 entirely and then later to control its spread. Although the country reopened its borders to most tourists arriving by plane in May, it wasn’t until two weeks ago that it lifted all remaining restrictions, including those on maritime arrivals. Many in the cruise industry question why it took so long. The Pacific Explorer sails into the Waitemata Harbour, in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (Brett Phibbs/New Zealand Herald) The end of restrictions allowed Carnival Australia’s Pacific Explorer cruise shi...

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New Zealand’s borders fully open after long pandemic closure

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

August 1, 2022658 Views

New Zealand's borders fully re-opened to visitors from around the world on Monday, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic closed them in March 2020. New Zealand's borders started reopening in February first for New Zealanders and restrictions have progressively eased. The process of reopening the borders ended last night with visitors who need visas and those on student visas now also allowed to return to New Zealand. New Zealand is now also letting cruise ships and foreign recreational yachts docks at its ports. Most visitors arriving in New Zealand still need to be vaccinated against COVID and must take two COVID tests after arriving. However, there are no quarantine requirements. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday during a speech at the Chi...