Located on New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf, Tiritiri Matang has been a protected nature reserve for the past 35 years. The island was solid kelp forest with beautiful ecklonia, and crayfish bristling out of every crevice. But now, the kelp and the crays are almost gone. The bare rock is overgrazed by sea urchins, or kina, which flourish in the absence of snapper and crayfish, their natural predators. The entire seascape is an impoverished and degraded landscape.
