In this video we follow the route taken by a banded kōkopu from the ocean to its freshwater home in a small coastal stream. Banded kōkopu are native New Zealand fish and their juveniles form part of the spring migration of whitebait. They have an At Risk conservation status, with sedimentation and droughts being two existing threats that will worsen as the climate changes and flows decline in the small streams they call home

A few surprising facts about banded kōkopu:
1) Juvenile fish can climb waterfalls and near-vertical concrete faces.
2) Adult fish can survive in pools of streams that don’t flow over summer.
3) They can be found in rural and urban streams, provided they have plenty of tree cover and overhanging vegetation, but…
4) They’re amongst the most sensitive of the whitebait species to turbid water (so keep it clean).

Thank you to Saskia Brown and Derek Gerber for their stella work creating the video. Thanks also to Dave Bryce and the volunteers at Drayton Reserve in McCormacks Bay, where this video was taken.