The Wire with Oto

As of Tuesday January 16th, certain fishing vessels operating near Aotearoa’s shore are now required to have cameras on board in order to get a more accurate understanding of the marine mammals and seabirds being injured or killed due to commercial fishing.

Between September 20th, 2023 and January 8th, 2024, the deaths of 6 Hector’s dolphins in fishing nets were identified.

Overseas, camera monitoring on board commercial fishing vessels has become standard practice. As of last year in Aotearoa, only 25% coverage of the country’s entire fleet has been reached.

Beth spoke with Professor at the University of Otago, Liz Sooten, about the impact of commercial fishing on marine mammals and seabirds in Aotearoa, and non-harmful approaches to commercial fishing.

Though recently Luxon has joined with other world leaders in supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, many have called for the New Zealand government to take further action.

Member of the Palestinian community, Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab has started a petition calling for New Zealand to live up to its international obligations. Olivia asked her why it’s important for the Government to support Palestine, and where people can learn more about this cause.

Accessible Ubers and taxis are expensive, leaving public transport the only option for many. However, Aotearoa’s public transport system has been criticised as lacking accessibility for people with disabilities.

Olivia spoke to member of the Disabled Persons Assembly NZ, Paul Brown, about the current accessibility issues with our public transport system, and what people can do to learn more about this topic. 

That was member of the Disabled Persons Assembly NZ, Paul Brown, speaking to me about accessibility issues with our current public transport system. 

This week for the very first Dear Science the Tuesday Wire team discusses; the use of A.I in potentially disproving old beleifs about fingerprints, new telescope photos of Uranus and Neptune being less blue than we thought.