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Research expedition to the Chatham Islands in 1954 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1954 Chatham Islands expedition was a research expedition organised by George Knox of the University of Canterbury to explore the distribution of benthic and pelagic marine fauna living between the Chatham Islands / Rēkohu and the eastern coast of New Zealand.
1954 Chatham Islands expedition | |
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| Start | Lyttelton  22 January 1954 |
| End | Lyttelton 12 February 1954 |
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The idea for the expedition came from George Knox.[1] Funding was received from the New Zealand Oceanographic Committee, via the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).[2][3]
The expedition took place in January and February 1954.[3][4][5] The vessel used to undertake this expedition was the MV Alert.[3] The Alert, which had been used for other scientific expeditions,[6] was specially fitted out for this expedition with dredging and trawling equipment, a winch and specially designed sorting benches.[7]
On its way to the Chathams the expedition did oceanographic work on the Mernoo Bank on the Chatham Rise, the area of sea bed between Banks Peninsula and the Chatham Islands.[2] They visited a number of locations on Rekohu (the main island) including Owenga, Kaingaroa, Waitangi, Petre Bay, Te Whanga Lagoon and Port Hutt.[3] Scientists also landed on the smaller islands of South East (Rangatira) Island, Pitt Island, The Sisters and the Forty-Fours.[1][3]
Members of the expedition came from several different institutions: University of Canterbury, Canterbury Museum, Dominion Museum, Victoria University, the DSIR, Portobello Marine Laboratory and the University of Otago Medical School.[1][2][3]
The expedition collected thousands of specimens of both land and marine fauna including over 150 new species.[1][3][6] Over 1200 specimens from the expedition are held by Te Papa.[5] Photographs taken by Dawson are held in the Alexander Turnbull Library.[8]
Dell named a deep water snail after the expedition ship and its master Alertalex blacki while another snail was named Chathamidia expeditionis after the expedition.[6]
The following publications resulted from the expedition:
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