A royal(ish) visitor for Milford
Because of its depth, width and shelter, Milford Sound can accommodate the largest passenger vessels in the world, although they cannot anchor there and must be in the open sea by nightfall.
The 294-metre Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 visited Milford Sound on February 18, 1978. The impressive vessel was launched in 1969 and spent until 2008 as a cruise ship on the Atlantic and worldwide. She had an interlude as a troop carrier during the Falklands War in 1982, when helicopter pads were built and the lounges converted to accommodation for 3000 troops.
After a decade laid up, during which time she was considered for scrapping, she opened for business again in April 2018 as a floating hotel in Dubai.
Haul of rights
Southland’s quickest whale catch was in 1835, when 11 right whales were killed at Fortrose in 17 days.
Before the invention of spring steel and plastics, the baleen (a filter-feeder system inside the mouth) from these whales was used for the springy bottoms of chairs and sofas, for stiffening whalebone corsets and for umbrella ribs and riding crops.
There weren’t enough barrels for the oil so that was wasted, with only the baleen being saved.
Right whales were slow and easy to harpoon around the bays of the south coast but were exterminated within a few years.
The origin of the name right whale is a mystery.
In terms of oil quality, they were certainly not the ‘‘right’’ whale and they were regarded with contempt by the whalers of the deep ocean who respected the sperm whale as a noble foe.
Delaying tactics
On May 11, 1882, Invercargill councillor and former mayor Joseph Hatch began addressing the council on a motion by Councillor Finn, ‘‘That the vote granting the sum of £10 to the Licensing Committee for the purpose of employing Private Stick insects are sometimes called ‘‘phantoms of the forest’’.
They belong to an insect order called Phasmatodea.
This name comes from the Greek ‘‘phasm’’ meaning phantom and one of the meanings the word phantom is ‘‘hidden from view’’.
That’s true of most stick insects. They are camouflage experts. Detectives for the detection of Publicans supplying drink to prohibited persons be rescinded’’.
The vote was tied and in order to outlast those supporting the motion, Hatch made a speech that became the longest stonewalling action ever recorded in the council chambers before or since.
The newspaper said: ‘‘His fellow members then proceeded to make themselves comfortable for
However, this was not the case with the stick insect in today’s photo. It was spotted on the outside of a car windscreen while travelling at 50kmh.
The force of the wind kept it pressed against the glass until the car stopped and then it was rescued and transferred to some green foliage where it soon became very difficult to detect.
It was just 2cm long and this being so it had probably emerged from an egg a few days earlier.
Stick insects can reproduce parthenogenetically. This means that the female can lay her eggs without being mated by a male.
When these eggs hatch they are female stick insects. When a female has a male mate the offspring are usually male.
Females usually drop single eggs as they cling to the foliage that they are feeding on.
The eggs simply drop to the ground where they resemble hard seeds and remain unprotected on the ground until they hatch. They the night, some taking off their boots and sitting at the fire, while others made two chairs do duty for couches.
‘‘One of the councillors offered him a cheque for £10 to stop talking, while another supplied him with a dictionary lest his supply of material should run out.
‘‘At 12.55am the adjournment of the meeting was moved, but emerge as nymphs, which are like miniature adults and grow by moulting.
The adult female of one New Zealand species can reach a length of 20cm and is our longest insect.
Stick insects have several defence behaviours that enable them to escape detection by birds. When disturbed they can fall from where they were on a branch, drop down until they are caught on a lower foliage and then play dead. They are very hard to detect.
When they are hiding among foliage and the wind blows, they can sway ‘‘in tune’’ with nearby leaves and twigs. They not only look like sticks, they also act like them.
Should a bird capture a stick insect by getting hold of a leg, the stick insect can use a special muscle to break the leg off and make its escape.
All the bird gets is the leg. Stick insects can grow another limb at the next moult. ruled out of order. At 1.45am it was suggested that oysters should be provided for the reporters, but this was not carried out.
‘‘Various expedients were resorted to in the hope of stopping Cr Hatch but in vain. At 4.10am, by which time he had taken refuge in the Licensing Act, whose clauses he was discussing with exuberant verbosity, another councillor arrived, which it was understood would result in the motion being lost.
‘‘Cr Hatch then sat down, having spoken five and a half hours. Cr McEwan, who supported the motion, thereupon rose and threatened to talk till noon.
‘‘He continued to do so until 5.40am, when there being no hope of other members arriving and so altering the result, several councillors lifted their hats from the rack and stole away. The meeting then closed for want of a quorum.’’
The minutes of the meeting record none of the speech, merely noting the failed motion to adjourn the meeting and that it finally ended for the want of a quorum.