Reserve Most Fitting Memorial To Sir Peter Blake

Marine Reserve Most Fitting Memorial To Sir Peter Blake

“While The New Zealand Underwater Association supports a memorial to Sir Peter, we feel that a marine reserve is most fitting to the memory of Sir Peter Blake”, Marine Biologist, Peter Crabb, says.

New Zealand Underwater is proposing the creation of a marine reserve in the waters around Tiritiri Matangi Island and The Whangaparaoa Peninsula. This reserve has not yet been named and could be called the Sir Peter Blake Marine Reserve.

A marine reserve is a “living tribute” for snorkelling, recreation, marine education and protection of recreational fishing for future generations. The creation of this reserve is very much in line with the philosophy of Blakexpeditions and such a memorial has benefits that last forever.

In addition, the proposed area is right on the edge of the yachting course for Americas Cup, an event that Sir Peter was instrumental in bringing to New Zealand.

Shakespeare Park at the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and Tiritiri Matangi Island are already land-based reserves, and combining on land conservation with marine conservation conforms to The Government’s Biodiversity Strategy 2000. The creation of this marine reserve is a fantastic opportunity for a natural extension of those reserves into the surrounding waters. This has to be the way to honour a remarkable New Zealander who was very concerned about the state of our oceans, Crabb says.

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