Mat Plants on Enderby Island

The Rainbow Warrior has been documenting the extraordinary wildlife of the Auckland Islands World Heritage area to show what is at risk with deep sea oil drilling.
From the Arctic to sub-Antarctic the international oil industry is dangerously encroaching on remote habitats to find the last drops of oil. The sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands lie 460 kilometres to the south of New Zealand. They offer landfall in the stormy wilds of the roaring forties and furious fifties and are home to endangered New Zealand sea lions, yellow-eyed penguins and many majestic albatross species. All have enough problems with disease, attacks from introduced feral animals, climate change and the industrial fishing industry taking their food and trawling habitat. Yet the New Zealand Government is actively encouraging deep sea oil permits closer and closer to these remarkable islands.