Kayaking 'round NZ

Merry Christmas from Moana Rua

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 23, 2017 at 4:03pm PST

A pre-Christmas alpine kayak (above) and two kayaks around two Goat Islands, 1500km apart (below).

Knew I lugged this little yellow boat all the way from Maine for a reason... (photos: @edinzphoto)

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Oct 25, 2017 at 12:49pm PDT

It seems I can't go kayaking in New Zealand without kayaking around Goat Island. This particular Goat Island is in Port Chalmers, and like the last Goat Island I kayaked around, it has no goats. It does have black-backed gulls and white-fronted terns nesting on it.

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 13, 2017 at 12:44am PST

Thrills, spills, and seabirds in the subantarctic

Ever wondered what it's like to be jumped by a 700-pound endangered marine mammal? Find out in the latest installment of Voyage of the Yellow-eyed Penguin. Also featured: shipwrecks, near-shipwrecks, and albatrosses in peril.

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Sketches of New Zealand white-capped mollymawks, nesting on Auckland Island in the subantarctic

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 8, 2017 at 3:43am PST

Intertidal sketches

Chiton, as viewed through three inches of water.

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 5, 2017 at 1:16am PST

And now, a brief barnacle interlude

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 4, 2017 at 11:13am PST

Scenes from penguinland

The second chapter of my National Geographic series Voyage of the Yellow-eyed Penguin: Penguins Wanted, actually involves penguins. Additional visual below.

My first penguin-monitoring station on a subantarctic island (I was pretty stoked to see four yellow-eyed penguins in four hours). Certainly can’t post this without acknowledging @edinzphoto’s amazing camo/neon combo gear loan (thanks, E!)

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 4, 2017 at 12:32am PST

Subantarctic sketches

Naturalist sketches from the subantarctic: ferns, red-billed gull, limpet, southern rātā, kelp (Chambres Inlet, New Zealand)

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 2, 2017 at 5:41pm PST

Not sure why, but I really like skuas (sketched in subantarctic New Zealand)

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 3, 2017 at 2:45pm PST