As the ice retreated some 15,00 years ago, the sea flooded in. Westerly winds blowing across the Tasman Sea carry moisture up to the Fiordland s mountains, making it one of the world s wettest places. Looking like a loaf of mouldy bread, the giant star gazer lives in these fjords, as well as some of the more than 600 known world wide sea spiders, and a most unusual specimen called the snake star which thrives in the forests of black coral. Flying fish found only in New Zealand waters Beneath the surface waters, the fjord s vertical walls plunge into blackness. Black coral grows here like huge trees.
Crustaceans always find sanctuary in fjords.
However, rock lobster and crayfish are not safe from the fisherman s pots. Deep waters and shelf walls make setting the pots very difficult, but certainly worth the effort, since the tails are exported around the world. The famous Hooker s sea lions breed off the coast of Steward Island. These are perhaps the rarest of sea lions, and during the mating season, sometimes the headcount can be as high as 7,000 or more. A fishing centre, Steward Island attracts a population of mollymawks, small albatrosses with wingspans of nearly eight feet.