Tony's space

After a recent trip to Gisborne,

I found myself becoming quite interested in the history, particularly New Zealand's maritime history, yes you all know that I have a deep love of the sea and the mysteries that it contains, especially our anomalous history.

 

A good friend of mine, John Tusker, is doing extensive research into the possibility that New Zealand was discovered well before Abel Tasman first set eyes on the shores, or Capt Cook first landed on the shores and declared them for Britain.
Now we all know the Maori reached the shores roughly around 700 years ago and colonised this country, then eventually came the whalers and sealers and then official colonisation began.

John however, is firmly convinced that the Portuguese landed on these shores at least 100 years before Cook did. There are a few anomalous shipwrecks and Maori myths and legends of strange looking fair hair people living on these shores. There have also been Red haired skeletons found as well which also throw added mystery into the mix.
I personally subscribe to the theory that possibly the Tamils were here first. A mysterious "cooking pot" was discovered in 1863 by William Colenso at Whangarei. The Bell had strange inscriptions around the outer rim, and had been in possession of the Maori tribe at Te Pahu, it had been then removed from there and taken to North Auckland by a raiding party from a rival tribe.
In 1893 Colenso was able to get the inscription translated which was indeed Tamil dialect. The inscription read “Mohoyideen Buk’s ship's bell"
had some Tamil ship then washed onto the shores during a storm and the Bell retrieved by the local Maori? We shall never know unless other evidence comes to light.
Another piece of support for the Tamil theory actually comes a from New Zealand cryptid called the Whitoreke. This creature was said to resemble an Otter and was first spotted by Capt Cook on his visit to dusky Sound. New Zealand has only Bats, the natural occurring mammals, and of them there are only three species. This Otter like an animal was seen on numerous occasions especially in the Canterbury district of the South Island.
Interestingly enough Tamil sailors used to use captive Otters for fishing. Is it possible that a Tamil ship wrecked on the coast of Canterbury and the otters on board managed to set up a breeding population and populate the area?
Forget the vagueness of some of these accounts as these are only skimming the cream from the top of these mysteries.

Another mysterious Tamil artefact is the Korotangi, it is a small stone carved bird that was found between Raglan and Kawhia during the 1880s. It was held with great reverence by the Maoris but resembles no known Maori carving. Often also called "the weeping Dove", it was found under a large manuka tree which had blown over in the storm, made from Green serpentine it weighed about 4 lbs. 10 oz. Finding its way to Major Hay of Cambridge it was instantly recognised by an old Maori Chieftainess they began to bow reverently before the bird and calling it Korotangi which translates to the bird that had been lost.
An elder of the Ngatimahuta tribe said "this is not a Maori bird, look at the carved feathers. It comes from a distance-a foreign country or over the sea".
Investigations into the artefact revealed that it is very similar to a type of stone bird that was carved in Indonesia and was fairly common in the area around the Indonesian bronze age.

 

Having touched lightly on these historical mysteries it is understandable that New Zealand has no real clear-cut historical discoverer, but many nations may possibly lay claim to having first set foot on these shores.

 

GeoNet – article: Jul 16 2009 - Fiordland quake biggest for 80 years

it has certainly been an interesting week in regards to earthquakes with the initial 7.8 quake occurring on Wednesday, July 15.
This initial quake was equivalent to the great Sumatran quake which caused the tidal wave that took so many lives. The reason this quake was different was that it was in a very isolated area and a soft rocks to the east and sold some of the shaking and reduce the intensity that could have caused so much damage.

What is actually amazing with this earthquake is that people in the North of the lsland mistakenly thought that what they were feeling was the 7.8 quake at the bottom of the South Island, but instead amazingly, at exactly the same time the 7.8 was occurring a 5.4 earthquake occurred in Taranaki and this is what they were actually feeling.
The after sharks are not over and are unlikely to occur for weeks to come. The main concern now is that this section of New Zealand is called on a snag. This is actually building pressure underneath the Alpine Fault which could eventually release with a massive force. People have been told to expect the possibility of a magnitude 7+ earthquake over the next few weeks.
The main thing that was bothering me personally was that there had been a lot of intense movement in the Western half of the island and yet no movement on the eastern side to relieve the pressure, this all changed yesterday with a couple of small, magnitude 3+ earthquakes occurred on the eastern side of the island. Hopefully this is a slow release other pressures building which is far preferable to one massive release.

Continuing Tremors in the South Island

You may not be aware of it but I have an extreme love of the Marine sciences.
When I first got word of this unusual substance I had suspected was some form of algae growth. The thing is, they have now identified what it is that they have yet to identify why it is there. What caused it and why is it so prolific.

Alaska Sea Blob Mystery Solved

there seems to be a lot of these anomalous occurrences of living organisms lately and all so a lot of anomalous animal behaviour. A classic example of this is the Humbolt Squid they have now began to move north and take up residence off the coast of San Diego, menacing divers and the local marine population. Our oceans are certainly changing and along with it a lot of the creatures that live there.

Finally there is some decent sunspot activity beginning

with active region 1024 putting on a magnificent show.
This region is apparently chock-full with B and C class solar flares. It is a very fast developing high potential sunspot that hopefully shows what is to come during Solar Cycle 24.
I have sold my telescope for astronomy due to the fact I have arthritis in my hands and until I can get a fully automated one it is pointless in me having one even though I do dearly love astronomy. I have however, still have a small cheapish scope which I am intending to get a sun filter for (DONT EVER LOOK INTO THE SUN WITH ANY UNSHIELDED OPTICAL INSTRUMENT YOU WILL CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR EYES WHICH WILL RESULT IN BLINDNESS), this I will use to photograph sunspot activity as I used to do many years ago. It's quite fascinating to see the progression of the sunspots from day to day.

 

The whole area around the Waihi and Turangi area has been placed out of bounds due to fears of major slippage. This area is extremely active with a lot of hydrothermal activity, and with the current extreme rain we are having it has made the whole area prone to movement.
This area lies at the southern end of Lake Taupo, which is in itself a massive cauldera, and then a bit further south lie two volcanoes.
The major concern is that a large slippage could cause a tidal wave across the lake to the heavily populated tourist town of Taupo.
A massive surge wave would definitely do nothing for the tourist industry.
Minor quakes still shake the area which is a good thing as it is relieving geological stresses which could lead to other events happening.

 

It has been noted that the sun is finally starting to show some minor spot activity and it is hopeful the cycle is beginning at last. The sun follows a 12 year cycles of sunspot activity, this goes from a lull of activity to a maximum where sunspots are very prevalent. Normally the cycle works like clockwork, however this time it has not gone as predicted. The solar maximum was predicted to be in 2012 but the sun has remained relatively quiet and is only now starting to show activity. This has pushed the maximum date back to a now predicted 2013.
Many pundits were trying to tie this in with the predictions of doom, gloom and catastrophe predicted for 2012.
The cycle may be out of sync but in the time leading up to maximum I am sure it will affect our weather patterns as sunspot activity has been tied in with weather activity here on earth.
It is interesting to note the vast climatic changes that have occurred since the great Sumatra quake and devastating tidal wave which killed thousands. After that the climate seem to change dramatically, and the change is becoming apparent more and more each year.
These are definitely going to be interesting times ahead.