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Conchology Section |
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Conchology Section |
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Recuperating:
Joan Coles has recently had a bad fall but is cheerfully getting on with life. We look forward to seeing her again at our meetings.
President's Report:
Doug Snook is away on a caravan tour in the Sth South and Vice President Fiona Thompson will chair the next meeting. As there was no scheduled speaker at our last meeting, Bruce Hazelwood held a very interesting discussion session. The main topic was a draft proposal circulated for public discussion for a Tiritiri Matangi Marine Reserve by the NZ Underwater Association. The meeting decided against supporting this current proposal, which closes on the 28th Feb. for our own submission, when the formal application for the Marine Reserve is made. This item will be on the agenda of our Committee Meeting in April so if you have any ideas about this marine reserve you would like have included, please write to the secretary, Rosa, 16 Kain St Mt Eden, or email Peter, as soon as possible.
Margaret Morley decided not to begin her practical series of instruction on how to draw shell types due to the time available at this meeting and instead will give her series of talks as a short lecture series this year. These lectures will be extremly valuable for members who intend to submit articles for Poirieria. Margaret's notes will also be published in future newsletters.
I was fortunate to get some photocopying donated this month. For members watching the America's Cup yacht racing on the magnificent Hauraki Gulf, especially those who live out of Auckland, I have enclosed some DoC. information and a map on the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Holiday Shelling Reports:
The field trip to the Chatham Is. led by Patricia Langford was a great success. (More on this later.) Betty Headford displayed some spectacular examples of large Haliotis iris with lovely rainbow colours, an Astraea heliotropium and whalebones, all collected on the trip. Gladys Goulstone displayed some very large tuatua shells, also from the Chathams Is.
Heather Smith spent most of the Christmas holidays in Northland at Coopers Beach. She displayed some fascinating fossilised coconuts but reported that there were few shells in the locality.
Rosa Tyson mentioned that in the week before Christmas she had see the largest shell deposits on Hahei Beach (an ocean surf beach on the Coromandel) in 25 years. These shell deposits were mainly highly coloured or lettered specimens of Tawera spissa.
The most puzzling find was displayed by Mr Chris Horne; a tooth shaped object found on Buckland's Beach in the Tamaki River which was argued could be a whale's tooth or even a broken piece of ceramic material!
Latest Bruce Marshall Papers:
The extracts from these will be published in a future Poirieria.
Land snails:
Bruce Hazelwood mentioned that the Journal Royal Society NZ vol. 32 no 4. has a report that South West Is. of Three Kings Island group, is home to a living colony of 50 (or maybe 100) Rhytidarex buddlei. This animal was previously only known from a unique holo-type which was a sub-fossil.
Lord Howe ls. field trip:
Planning is well under way for this trip and there are still some places left. For details please ph Heather Smith 09-524-5068.
Next Meeting: Tuesday 11th Mar. 7:30 pm at the Auckland Museum.
Entrance by the rear Admin door between 7:15-7:30pm. We regret there can be no late admittance due to security regulations.
Speaker:
Heather Smith, Shells of Nuie Island. Heather has recently visited Nuie and has many shelling experiences and photographs to share.
Please bring a selection of Pacific Is shells - including any shells that you may have collected as souvenirs - we will identify the shells used in the item. (Some shell leis are now quite rare.) We will have the slide projector so please bring along slides of your favourite Pacific Island.
Trading Table: Patricia Langford has promised to bring shells to sell. Other shells for sale are also very welcome.
Next dinner commitee meeting will be held prior to our 8th April meeting 6pm in the staff tea room AWMM.
Bruce Hazelwood's field trip to Cuvier Is. (to collect land snails)
Our permit has been approved for the weekend of April 5th-6th. We are delighted that Bruce Hayward is now able to come. Bruce Hayward and Margaret Morley will be coordinating the group to do a survey of the Island's inter - tidal zone.
Future field trips:
Suggested locations: Slipper Is . Gt. Mercury Is. Mayor Is. Kapiti Is.
New: Bruce Hazelwood and Glenys Stace: Leigh, Goat Is. Nancy Smith: fossil cliffs at Wanganui.
Library News:
Librarian Gladys Goulstone - address 38A Church Rd. Mangere Bridge, Ak ph. (09) 634-2823, will be in attendance at the Library in the Matapuna Gallery on the Mon. afternoon 2-3 pm before each meeting date. Please contact her re. books on the list mailed Sept 01- Gladys has extra copies of this. She will deliver book orders to the meeting, or if you send her an A4 P.0. handy bag with $2.95 in stamps, for each book, she wiil mail books to you. Please return books to Matapuna as soon as possible or to Gladys at the next meeting, or mail them to her address above.
Poirieria:
Tony and Jenny Enderby, P.O Box 139 Leigh, require articles for the next Poirieria issue. All queries: ph. 09-422-6127 or Email enderby@enderby.co.nz
Peter Poortman has compiled an index of articles in back copies which is available on our website: http://members.tripod com/~nz_seashells
The back copies are held in the AWM. Museum Library. Rosa will copy articles tor you. Please send her $3 to cover photo costs and postage.
Peter Poortman's Email is : poortman@xtra.co.nz
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Subscriptions are now due for 2003. The annual subscription is $20-00.
Please make cheques to: Conchology Section C/O R.A.Tyson, 16 Kain St, Mt Eden, Auckland 4, New Zealand.
I/we enclose $20.00 for my/our annual subscription:
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