It’s been three months already since we deployed the 60 tonnes of kūtai at Ōkahu Bay. This week we completed the 3-month survey. The mussels are settling into their new home nicely, even though we’ve seen higher than usual sea temperatures and cyclones over summer.
The good news is that the mussel bed densities are pretty similar to what was measured immediately post deployment (our 1-month survey). We have seen some die off, approx. 4-13%, which is not too surprising given the journey from Coromandel, and the deployment process. Early days – we will need to wait a while longer before we can we really understand how the mussels are adapting and surviving in the bay.
