“It was really cool to get the report from a local, from someone else who is just really in love with the area,” Andrea says.
Following two trips to Easy Harbour last year, divers returned in January and while they found some regrowth, it was at a much lower density and there was no sign of further spread.
Andrea grew up in British Columbia, Canada, and spent her childhood snorkelling off the coast. She has since gone on to make it a 20-year long career, starting as a dive instructor in Canada before doing the same in Mexico and Hondorus.
“I like that it’s really calm. I like that you have to be very present in the moment with diving.”
In 2011, she came to New Zealand to take six months off to watch the Rugby World Cup. Inevitably she fell in love with the diving here and moved to Milford Sound where she spent nine years running the Milford Sound Underwater Observatory.
“I had left Milford to try a new opportunity that didn’t quite work out and then got the email from the Fiordland Marine Guardians about the Fiordland Undaria Control Programme. I sent it to all my diving contacts in New Zealand and then a week later realised I was being stupid and should apply myself.”
Alongside Environment Southland marine biosecurity coordinator Pauline Dusseau, Andrea oversees week-long trips into Fiordland with the divers from the Fiordland Undaria Control Programme.
The pair ensure the dive team is getting the job done, respecting the environment and having fun, Andrea says.
“It takes a special person to be able to live in a remote environment but it takes an even more special person when you have to live in a remote environment with six, or 10 other people.”
The training of the Jobs for Nature divers has been instrumental in responding to marine incursions.
