Latest news with #marineeducation
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Northland researcher's dream of creating marine education centre goes up in smoke
Thibaud Guerin, owner of marine research company TriOceans, and Cat Peters, chairwoman of the TriOceans Education Trust, say they haven't given up their dream of a marine education centre in the Bay of Islands. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf A Northland marine researcher's dream of creating a free community education centre has literally gone up in smoke in a devastating ship fire. Cat Peters, chairwoman of the TriOceans Education Trust, said her plans had been 10 years in the making. Last year the trust had been able to buy the Tui - a derelict ship next to Waitangi Bridge in Paihia - and at the end of April it received a substantial grant from Foundation North to restore the vessel and turn it into a community classroom . Work was just about to start when the Tui was destroyed in a fire that started just after 4am on Wednesday. Surveying the charred remains of the vessel later that morning, Peters was unsure what her next steps would be. She was, however, determined to keep her vision alive. "The dream's not going to die, we're all very committed to it. It might just take a bit of a different form now," she said. Historic ship The Tui on fire in Paihia. Photo: Supplied Peters was also upset for the Tarlton family, with the late Kelly Tarlton creating the replica three-masted barque from a vintage sugar boat in the 1970s, and turning it into a museum for treasures he had salvaged from shipwrecks. "It's gutting. Gutting for us. Gutting for the Tarltons. Gutting for the community, and everybody who came out to support this new lease of life for the boat. It's just gutting." Work had been due to start any day and some building materials had already been brought on board. "We were going to turn it into a community education centre. It's been a long lived dream of all of ours, to offer free marine education to the community so people can learn about what's going on in the Bay, and learn about how they can help and be involved." Peters said the Tui was ideal because it was right on the water and incorporated the story of Kelly Tarlton. "So it was perfect. And you can't get more inspired learning about the water than on the water." Northland fire investigator Craig Bain inspects debris pulled off the ship in the hope of identifying the cause of the fire. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Lead contractor Darrin Hawke, of Kerikeri, said he had already carried out some interior work and was looking forward to starting the restoration in earnest. He had lost building material but no tools in the fire. "I really feel for the owners. They've put a lot of heart and soul into this project so I feel for them more than anything else. But it's sad for everyone concerned. And I'll just have to look for more work." Peters said very little could be salvaged from the wreckage. "The majority of it's gone. We had fortunately taken some old artifacts off already, just in preparation for the work. But the things that were the soul of the boat, they're all gone unfortunately." She did, however, manage to rescue the ship's wheel, which she would offer to the Tarlton family given their long connection to the Tui. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Malay Mail
26-05-2025
- Malay Mail
Three times bigger: Singapore Oceanarium on Sentosa to open July 23 (VIDEO)
SINGAPORE, May 26 — SEA Aquarium will reopen as the Singapore Oceanarium on July 23 after a three-month revamp. The new attraction in the Resorts World Sentosa is three times larger, featuring 22 immersive zones, Singapore media reported today. Among them are Ocean Wonders, home to thousands of moon jellies, and Singapore's Coast, which showcases local marine life. Ancient Waters and Conquering Land display prehistoric creatures and living fossils while the Spirit of Exploration features the Jewel of Muscat, a replica of a ninth-century Arabian ship. A research centre next to the Oceanarium will support marine education and conservation. This includes collaborations on marine science and climate resilience with the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University. Ticketing details have yet to be announced.
RNZ News
24-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Historic three-masted sailing ship to begin new chapter in Northland
The Tui started shedding planks from its hull several years ago, damage that was accelerated by Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf A derelict Northland landmark with a vivid history - it has variously been a restaurant, a shipwreck museum laden with treasure, and the target of a notorious criminal - is about to get a new life as a marine education centre. The Tui , a three-masted sailing ship, has been a feature of the Waitangi waterfront since the late Kelly Tarlton bought the historic vessel and used it to house his finds from a lifetime of exploring shipwrecks. Later it became a popular eatery known as Shippey's, but for the past decade it has been empty, an increasingly sorry sight in the estuary next to Waitangi Bridge. The tops of its masts have been removed and the hull has started shedding planks, a decline accelerated by Cyclone Gabrielle. Now, however, the waterfront icon appears to have been saved and is set to embark on a new life. The Tui in its heyday as Kelly Tarlton's Museum of Shipwrecks in 1976. Photo: Archives New Zealand/ G Riethmaier Kerikeri-based TriOceans marine research institute announced this week that it had started restoring the vessel for use as a community space and marine education facility. TriOceans describes itself as a "collective of scientists and innovators" focussed on marine mammal science and marine education, weaving together mātauranga Māori and modern scientific methods. It's just the latest chapter in the ship's long and intriguing history. Ask when the Tui was built and you'll get a range of answers, from 1890 to 1913. What's not disputed is that it was built for Chelsea Sugar to transport refined sugar from the then- isolated outpost of Birkenhead across the Waitematā Harbour to the docks at Auckland. It was one of seven purpose-built, kauri-hulled lighters, which are flat-bottomed vessels resembling a barge or scow. Work has started to bring the Tui back to its former glory. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf The construction of Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1954, however, meant the lighters were no longer needed. The last one was sold in 1961. Most were converted into pleasure boats or floating homes, but one caught the eye of Kelly Tarlton. Scuba diving pioneer Kelly Tarlton created The Tui to house the treasures he had found under the sea. Photo: Supplied A scuba diving pioneer, Tarlton was also one of New Zealand's most passionate and successful treasure hunters. In the early 1960s he moved to Northland's Tutukākā Coast to be close to the spectacular waters of the Poor Knights Islands. One of the first shipwrecks Tarlton explored was the Elingamite , a passenger steamer that sank at the Three Kings Islands in 1902 with a large consignment of gold and coins on board. The Tasmania , which went down off Mahia Peninsula in 1897 with a suitcase full of jewels, was the subject of another lucrative expedition. Eventually Tarlton needed somewhere to display his growing collection of treasures wrestled from the sea. The Tui was just what he was looking for. With typical Tarlton ingenuity and enthusiasm he set about converting an ungainly 30-metre barge into an elegant, three-masted barque. The kauri masts were salvaged from the Endeavour II , a Canadian sailing ship that came to grief on the Parengarenga Bar, near North Cape. Tarlton's Museum of Shipwrecks was an instant success when the first visitors crossed the gangplank in 1970. It became a must-see attraction in the Bay of Islands and helped pay for his ongoing ventures. After Tarlton died in 1985, aged just 47, his wife Rosemary kept his ship of treasures open for another 15 years. In the year 2000 disaster struck in the unexpected form of kitchenhand Keith Anthony McEwen. Shortly before 8pm on 8 April, while visitors were still in the museum, staff discovered a glass vault had been plundered of an estimated $300,000 worth of gold, jewellery and coins. McEwen, then aged 23 and employed in the museum kitchen, vanished around the same time, leaving his clothing and girlfriend behind. It wasn't long before he was named as the prime suspect. McEwen was eventually caught and sentenced to 7½ years' jail, but never revealed where he had hidden the treasure. Police and private investigators made many attempts to find it, even searching his childhood eeling spot near Moerewa. Years later, an associate claimed McEwen stole the treasure on behalf of a gang and never got a cut, but that story has never been verified. McEwen disappeared again after he was released in 2005. He spent some time holed up on Kawau Island, then returned to public attention in the most disturbing way possible. On 10 November, 2006, a Dutch couple sleeping in their van at Haruru Falls were accosted by two men pretending to be police. The honeymooners were handcuffed at gunpoint, then driven around the Mid North for six hours while the men withdrew money using their bank card. One of the men subjected the woman to a sexual assault so horrific the details are permanently suppressed by court order. The two men were arrested on 21 November as a result of what police described as a combination of information from the public, CCTV footage, forensics, and old-fashioned legwork. The main offender was none other than Keith McEwen. In February 2007 he admitted two charges of aggravated robbery, two of kidnapping, five of sexual violation, and one each of rape, attempted stupefaction and using the couple's bank card. He was sentenced to preventive detention, which means he will be released only when he is deemed to no longer be a risk. McEwen was denied parole for the eighth time in April last year . His accomplice, Christopher Mana Manuel, pleaded guilty to lesser charges the following month. The Tui, once Kelly Tarlton's Museum of Shipwrecks, has fallen into disrepair since its on-board restaurant closed more than 10 years ago. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf McEwen's heist - and the insurance company's refusal to pay out on a technicality - spelt the end of Tarlton's Museum of Shipwrecks. Rosemary Tarlton delayed selling the Tui until she believed she'd found the right buyers, but by 2003 she was confident her search was complete. The new owners, a Kerikeri couple, had a vision of transforming the Tui into a bar and café they called Brown Sugar, a nod to the ship's beginnings as a sugar lighter. The restaurant went through a number of incarnations, operators and names, until it eventually became Shippey's, a popular spot on summer evenings for fish and chips on the deck. Shippey's closed down in 2014 amid a breakdown in the relationship between the boat owners and the business operators. Plans to reopen the vessel as an eatery were scuppered by the Covid pandemic. Since then it has deteriorated badly. The most obvious sign of its decline is the planks that have fallen from its port side. The ship's poor condition has not gone unnoticed by the Northland Regional Council, the local maritime authority. The Tui at low tide in Waitangi Estuary. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Harbourmaster Jim Lyle said the Tui was regarded as a coastal structure rather than a ship, because it was permanently mounted on blocks. However, it was still being monitored by the council to ensure debris from its hull did not create a shipping hazard. Lyle said the Tui was originally a flat-bottomed, barge-like vessel. When it was converted to a museum, Tarlton had steel framing built around it, which was then planked over. The planks that were falling off were cosmetic in function and not part of the original vessel, he said. An artist's concept: The TriOceans marine research institute have started work toward turning the old Tui three masted sailing ship into a marine education centre. Photo: Supplied/ TriOceans TriOceans bought the vessel last year, saying the organisation planned to restore the "iconic old sugar boat in line with Kelly Tarlton's original vision". This week that vision came a step closer to reality with TriOceans announcing on social media it had received funding for the restoration from Foundation North, formerly the ASB Community Trust. A team from Kerikeri-based Hawke Property Developments had started the job of returning the Tui to its former glory. TriOceans said the location, in the rich waters of the Bay of Islands a stone's throw from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, was perfect for a marine education centre. "We aim to make local marine life and conservation education accessible to all, working alongside local kaitiaki, community leaders, and passionate educators to build this iconic ship up to its fullest potential," the organisation said. It's a fresh chapter in the fascinating story of the Tui , offering hope the ship will remain a landmark on the Waitangi waterfront for many years to come. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
