''The really sad thing is that when I was young Richard Moore didn't seem a common name, however in the age of Google it seems there are about 31 bazillion of us.'' - Richard Moore the 27,000,000,001st.

THE RENA

This is the container vessel Rena lying on the Astrolabe Reef off Papamoa Beach.

Salvage teams are currently removing containers off the Rena and are making good progress.

For the months since October 5 Rena has withstood some severe pounding from heavy seas and high winds.

But she has proven herself brave and tough and held together remarkably well - long enough for the oil inside her to be pumped off.

On January 3, however, she succumbed and split in two sending dozens of containers into Bay of Plenty waters.

Today, Rena remains on Astrolabe Reef and we will have to wait and see what happens to the hundreds of containers still aboard her.

"This is such a huge body of work that the best way to follow the history of the Rena Oil Spill Disaster is chronologically. Start on Photo Page 1 and work your way through. Some aspects of the event have been broken out into their own sections." - Richard Moore

SALVAGE WORK : Close-up pictures of salvage experts working on the Rena.

MY 12 PICTURES THAT SUM UP THE DISASTER: The Rena Dozen - My Entry for 2012 Canon Media Awards.

FACTS AND FIGURES : Check out the resources used to clean up after the Rena oil spill.

AND: If you are fed up with the whole thing check out the Cook Islands.

OIL SPILL PHOTO PAGES:
(The higher the number the more recent the images.)

Photo Pages 1 | 2 | 3| 4| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |

RENA DEBRIS LANDS ON WAIHI BEACH:

When the stern of the Rena broke away and began to slide off Astrolabe Reef hundreds of containers went into the ocean. More than a dozen washed up on Waihi Beach. Some were intact, others broke up spilling their contents of wood, bags of milk powder and other foodstuffs on to the sands.

Waihi Beach Covered in Debris and Containers

SHE'S GOING: RENA SPLITS IN TWO, STARTS TO SINK

Rough sea clonditions with swells up to 6 metres have finally split the container ship Rena in two. We hired a plane to fly over the Astrolabe Reef and got some amazing images. Wreckage and containers from the vessel are now drifting on to many beaches in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Aerial Shots of Sinking Rena
Containers, Wreckage hit Bay Shores

SALVORS DOING TERRIFIC JOB GETTING CONTAINERS OFF RENA:

Working in very dangerous conditions the salvage experts on the Rena have pumped the heavy oil from her and are now taking containers from the grounded vessel. It is complicated and difficult work but they are averaging about nine a day at the moment. We took a trip out to the Rena on HMNZS Pukaki to see the operation up close.

Salvors at work - we visit the Rena

HAVE A LAUGH: A WATER-SHY PENGUIN:

While on a second visit to the Oiled Wildlife Response Centre in Tauranga I watched as a little blue penguin tentatively dived off a small platform into one of the swimming pools set up for them. It took the penguin about a minute to summon up the courage to leap into the inviting waters and join his mates in a bit of a swimming session.

Water Shy Penguin Pictures

WELL DONE DEFENCE FORCE PERSONNEL AND VOLUNTEERS:

The people of Papamoa and the Mount are very grateful for the efforts of New Zealand Defence Force personnel in helping to clean up our oil-hit beaches. Members of the Navy, Army, Air Force and Territorials have been doing the hard yards on the sands. They have picked up tonnes of oil globules, contaminated shells and oily sand. The Air Force has also been using hoses to try to clean up oil from around rocks around Mauao's basetrack. Well done people, thanks!

Air Force personnel cleaning up at Mauao

RENA'S RESTING PLACE ON ASTROLABE REEF:

We hired a light plane from SunAir in Tauranga and flew out to the stranded Rena on Astrolabe Reef. It was pretty windy, but our pilot James did a great job to get us in a position to take these pictures.

Close-up photos of the Rena

OIL DISASTER AT MY BEACH:

Idiot crew run container ship aground off Papamoa Beach in NZ spilling 350 tonnes of heavy fuel into the sea. More than 1400 birds and other sea creatures have died. This is my photo essay on the disaster so far. I'll be regularly updating images despite the authorities trying to stop journalists and photographers getting on to the affected beaches.

Read Moore

CONSERVATION WORKER CATCHES PENGUIN:

I was on Papamoa Beach when a Department of Conservation worker managed to chase down and catch a small penguin in the surf. Have a look at the lengths the guy, Jerome Guillotel, went to in his bid to save this little creature. Well done Jerome!

Series of pictures of the capture

TRYING TO SAVE PENGUINS AND OTHER WILDLIFE:

An Oiled Wildlife Response Unit is in Tauranga to help save oil sea creatures and birds. These people have done a fantastic job in the past weeks. Some of the images I took there will disturb some people, but this is an ecological disaster that needs to be documented. Other photos will have you smiling.

Pictures of the penguin cleanup

Who is this
Richard Moore?

He is a 51-year-old Australian journalist and photographer who lives with his kids (half the time) near a beautiful surf beach in Papamoa, New Zealand.

He writes a social commentary column for the Bay of Plenty Times, edits regional newspapers around NZ, owns an online travel magazine called TikiTouring at www.tikitouring.co.nz
and the Napoleonic Guide, a 2500-page online encyclopaedia of the Napoleonic Wars.

Richard Moore also owns a games shop in Girven Rd near Bayfair called BattleZone.

Check out TikiTouring.co.nz for hundreds of my photos of New Zealand.

And also his new website on the Cook Islands by clicking here. Cook Islands and Rarotonga.

RICHARD MOORE'S CV

Email Richard Moore
richard@richardmoore.com

Pretty in Pink at Breast Cancer Beach Walk

GO CATS!

GO MANLY!

Well done to the Geelong boys for winning the AFL flag - third time in five years - and for Manly winning its 2nd NRL title in four years. Brilliant stuff!

READ RICHARD MOORE'S STRAIGHT TALK COLUMNS

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