Wild Coasts

Episode 1

Fiordland and Faraway Coasts

Landscape photographer and conservationist Craig Potton explores the coastlines at the south end of New Zealand's South Island. Helicopter pilot Richard Hayes takes him into Dusky Sound, a remote region of Fiordland National Park. The pair follow in the footsteps of Captain James Cook who visited the area in 1769 and made accurate maps. He employed the newly developed chronometer to determine latitude and longitude. Craig snorkels with marine scientist Ken Grange to find the rare black coral. it is actually white in appearance, the black being the color of its skeleton. Due to tannins darkening the waters, it lives close enough to the surface to find with snorkels. Chris Birmingham and Hannah Edmonds take Craig to see the extremely endangered green parrot, the kakapo, on its Anchor Island sanctuary in Dusky Sound. At the time of filming only 131 were known to exist. Next, is a tour of the Waitutu Forest at the south end of Fiordland National Park where 13 layers of beach terraces, each separated by about 100,000 years of geological formation. On Stewart Island, Potton helps tag great white sharks and visits the fragile sand dunes on the west side that have been invaded by grasses. Finally, in the Catlins to the southeast corner of the South Island, he watches yellow-eyed penguins. At Curio Bay, there are wonderful fossils of podocarp trees and a colony of sea lions that were re-established after a 100-year absence.