Dannelboyz
Well-Known Member
It was a research thing - I was studying the centipedes, although I am in a seabird research lab. Last year, it was discovered that they feed on seabird chicks so my aim was to understand their role in the island ecosystem. I was out there for a total of just over four weeks.
To visit is not actually that difficult but it is expensive (boat trips cost several hundred dollars) and I think some of the boat drivers will not take you across unless you have a qualified guide. My understanding is that guided tours are generally only for the day and this would prevent you from seeing some of the Pterodroma petrels, the reptiles and the centipedes. The only species you would be likely to see can be observed from Norfolk Island. There is a fishing hut down the bottom outside the national park that non-researchers can stay in, so if it was something you wanted to try and you had the money you could stay a night or two there and then climb up to Phillip Island for a night.
Generally, any established feral species is counted but there is debate about what is established. For example, no one would count a group of free-roaming guineafowl or peafowl on a farm or in a zoo, even if they were breeding. No one would count small numbers of geese or ducks dumped in lakes. Generally, the population needs to be self-sustaining and have enough generations to be 'tickable'. However, as I'm not sure on the status of the geese on Norfolk Island, I don't count them yet.
The fish and invertebrates list are only those I have identified thus far.
). If people do or don't want to count introduced exotics then that's up to them.
