Snorkel day at Far North’s Maitai Bay reveals recovering marine life

Far North locals got to witness a vibrant, rejuvenating marine environment at a Maitai Bay Community Snorkelling Day this month.

Around 210 participants and 31 volunteers took part throughout the day at Maitai Bay - about 43km north of Kaitāia - with a large portion made up of local whānau.

The event was a collaboration between Te Whānau Moana me Te Rorohuri and Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust’s Experiencing Marine Reserves programme. Funding was provided by Water Safety New Zealand.

A group on the Maitai Bay reef with their guides Kylie (Department of Conservation- Far North) and Ceara (Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust) during the recent Experiencing Marine Reserves snorkel day.

Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust regional co-ordinator Pippa Benton said it’s exciting to show locals the environment as it recovers. While Maitai Bay is not a marine reserve, in 2017 Te Whānau Moana/Te Rorohuri laid a rāhui over the area to stop all fishing and taking of seafood in order to allow the area to recover.

The bay also had a major problem with kina barrens from an overabundance of kina due to lack of snapper to eat them.

“Many species that were hard to find are now returning. Tāmure (snapper), blue mao mao, sandaggers wrasse, pigfish and maratea (red moki) can be found abundantly once again. And today we had an exciting sighting of a gurnard in a shallow patch of sand,” Benton said.

“It’s a positive sign that the rāhui is helping the environment to regenerate.”

Maitai Bay has been a rāhui zone for over seven years now, enforced by local hapū Te Whānau Moana/Me Te Rorohuri and managed by Te Rangi-i-Taiāwhiaotia Trust.

“We felt Maitai Bay needed a chance to rejuvenate - fish numbers were declining and we wanted to protect them for our mokopuna. It’s great to help organise events like this and show our community the rāhui is working,” Te Rangi-i-Taiāwhiaotia Trust spokeswoman Kataraina Rhind (Ngāti Kahu) said.

Volunteers and crew on the Experiencing Marine Reserves snorkel day at Maitai Bay, with a large majority made up of local hapū

If responses from locals are any guide, the community greatly appreciated the chance to witness the changes taking place.“

The kids loved their day with their instructor Whaea Ruby-Anne, and loved to see the snapper and kina. We can’t wait to come back next year”, a family at the snorkel day from Kaitāia said.

While this year’s event is over, Benton is already looking forward to the next one.

“Te Rangi-i-Taiawhiaotia Trust, Far North REAP and the Department of Conservation all provided volunteers. It was really a wonderful team effort. We can’t wait to come in 2026 and hopefully see even more fish and wildlife returning to the area.”

Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust is running many similar events throughout Tai Tokerau this summer via its Experiencing Marine Reserves programme, including at Taupō Bay on February 8 from 10am-3pm. To find out more about these events, visit www.mountainstosea.org.nz or the Experiencing Marine Reserves Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mtsct.emr .