Wreck salvage images expose reef demise

There wasn’t a lot to see at the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga when he dived there in the mid 1990’s, so Mahurangi West underwater photographer Darryl Torckler never went back until he was contracted to photograph the removal of the wrecked Rena off the reef.

Some of his stunning images from the salvage effort captured the rebuild of abundance on the reef while a no-go zone was in place, were shown at the recent Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Seminar.

The container ship stuck fast on the reef in October 2011. Over the next three years Torckler was one of just a few able to dive in the exclusion zone as he got images of the wreckage and debris field for the owners’ insurers to present to the Environment Court.

The reef is really exposed to the elements, he said. When the wind got above 15 knots work stopped on the salvage. It could be up to a four to six week wait before the calm weather and clear water he needed to photograph.

The regeneration of the Astrolabe Reef was the one silver lining of the disaster. With an exclusion zone placed around the ship so salvaging could take place, the reef effectively became a marine reserve and sea life thrived without the pressures of fishing.

That protection ended in April 2016 when the reef was opened again, in spite of an urgent request by the Motiti Rohe Moana Trust, for a twoyear temporary closure of the reef to all fishing. The reef has been decimated, Motiti Rohe Moana Trust spokesman TA Sayers told the seminar audience. Torckler says he is sad to hear of its demise. The big increase in sea life was very obvious as time went by, he says.

‘‘I saw the largest schools of kahawai I’ve ever seen.’’

The Ministry of Primary Industries has yet to make a decision on the temporary closure though submissions on it closed in March.

Also at the seminar and involved with the Trusts efforts to establish a no-take zone and marine spatial plan was Warkworth resident Dr Roger Grace. The whole process has been extremely frustrating the marine reserve expert says, with a silver lining opportunity squandered. Many volunteers from Rodney and the Hibiscus Coast were involved with wildlife rescue and beach clean up after the wreck.