Gerry Clark
Encyclopedia
Gerald Stanley Clark MBE
(9 May 1927 – June 1999) was a New Zealand
sailor
, writer
and ornithologist
. He is notable for his ornithological research work on subantarctic islands and for his circumnavigation
of Antarctica in his self-built yacht
Totorore.
, England
, and educated at boarding school
and later at the Thames Nautical Training College, then known as HMS Worcester. In 1944, unable to join the Royal Navy
because of a visual defect, he joined the British Merchant Navy, serving with the Union-Castle Line
on the Liberty ship
Samflora, and completing his cadet training during a two-year cruise without home leave. Upon discharge from the Samflora he joined the Straits Steamship Company, based in Singapore
, as a junior officer on small ships trading through the islands of South East Asia.
In 1951 Clark returned to England to attend the Warsash Maritime Centre
at Southampton
to sit for his Master’s Certificate
. While he was there he married Marjorie Ellen Bates who later joined him in Singapore where the couple had four daughters. There Clark was promoted first to Captain and then to Assistant Marine Superintendent of a fleet of fifty vessels.
in New Zealand where he bought the Homelands Orchard
. Although they struggled at first, eventually they successfully pioneered the organic farming
of citrus
and sub-tropical fruits in the area.
Clark also attended evening classes in boat building
, building his first yacht, the 7 m Ketiga in 1968, in which he took part in the first Single-handed Trans-Tasman Yacht Race in 1970. In 1973 he sailed around New Zealand, including the Chatham
, Auckland
and Campbell Islands
.
s of the Southern Ocean
in order to further their conservation. Clark spent seven years building the 10 m yacht Totorore (the Maori
name for the Antarctic Prion
) of Kauri
timber, completing and launching her in 1982.
The Totorore left Kerikeri on 26 February 1983, eventually returning on 6 November 1986, 3 years, 8 months and 16 days later, having travelled some 71,000 km eastwards, around and about the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Peninsula
, visiting numerous islands to survey and count seabirds. The most significant ornithological work was carried out in southern Chile
where new colonies of several species were discovered, and in South Georgia where comprehensive and accurate counts were made of Wandering Albatross
es and King Penguin
s along the long coastline. During much of the expedition Clark was accompanied and aided by one or two companions, but sometimes, as on a late leg of the voyage between Marion Island and Fremantle, Australia, he was alone and frequently imperilled by rough seas and equipment failure.
Following his return, honours received by Clark included:
For the next twelve years Clark continued his interest in seabird conservation and New Zealand’s subantarctic islands by making numerous trips in the Totorore to assist researchers from the Department of Conservation to count, map and study seabirds. It was in the course of one of these expeditions, to recover satellite transmitters used to track albatrosses breeding on the Antipodes Islands
, that the Totorore disappeared on about 12 June 1999 off the south coast of Antipodes Island, along with Clark and his companion Roger Sale.http://www.ranui.co.nz/totorore.html
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(9 May 1927 – June 1999) was a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and ornithologist
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
. He is notable for his ornithological research work on subantarctic islands and for his circumnavigation
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
of Antarctica in his self-built yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
Totorore.
Early years
Clark was born in ColchesterColchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and educated at boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
and later at the Thames Nautical Training College, then known as HMS Worcester. In 1944, unable to join the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
because of a visual defect, he joined the British Merchant Navy, serving with the Union-Castle Line
Union-Castle Line
The Union-Castle Line was a prominent British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line...
on the Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
Samflora, and completing his cadet training during a two-year cruise without home leave. Upon discharge from the Samflora he joined the Straits Steamship Company, based in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, as a junior officer on small ships trading through the islands of South East Asia.
In 1951 Clark returned to England to attend the Warsash Maritime Centre
Warsash Maritime Academy
Warsash Maritime Academy is a maritime training college and is part of Southampton Solent University. The academy campus is just east of Southampton aside the River Hamble and Warsash village. The college provides education, training, consultancy and research to the international shipping and...
at Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
to sit for his Master’s Certificate
Licensed mariner
A licensed mariner is a person who holds a license issued by one or more countries to hold senior positions aboard ships, boats, and similar vessels. The United States Coast Guard grants licenses to members of the United States Merchant Marine in five categories: deck officers, engineers, staff...
. While he was there he married Marjorie Ellen Bates who later joined him in Singapore where the couple had four daughters. There Clark was promoted first to Captain and then to Assistant Marine Superintendent of a fleet of fifty vessels.
New Zealand
In 1958 Clark and his family moved to KerikeriKerikeri
Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
in New Zealand where he bought the Homelands Orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
. Although they struggled at first, eventually they successfully pioneered the organic farming
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
of citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
and sub-tropical fruits in the area.
Clark also attended evening classes in boat building
Boat building
Boat building, one of the oldest branches of engineering, is concerned with constructing the hulls of boats and, for sailboats, the masts, spars and rigging.-Parts:* Bow - the front and generally sharp end of the hull...
, building his first yacht, the 7 m Ketiga in 1968, in which he took part in the first Single-handed Trans-Tasman Yacht Race in 1970. In 1973 he sailed around New Zealand, including the Chatham
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
, Auckland
Auckland Islands
The Auckland Islands are an archipelago of the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands and include Auckland Island, Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island and Green Island, with a combined area of...
and Campbell Islands
Campbell Island, New Zealand
Campbell Island is a remote, subantarctic island of New Zealand and the main island of the Campbell Island group. It covers of the group's , and is surrounded by numerous stacks, rocks and islets like Dent Island, Folly Island , Isle de Jeanette Marie, and Jacquemart Island, the latter being the...
.
The Totorore expedition
The Totorore expedition was conceived as a circum-Antarctic voyage to study the seabirdSeabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s of the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
in order to further their conservation. Clark spent seven years building the 10 m yacht Totorore (the Maori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
name for the Antarctic Prion
Antarctic Prion
The Antarctic Prion, Pachyptila desolata, also known as the Dove Prion, or Totorore in Maori, is the largest of the prions, a genus of small petrels of the Southern Ocean.-Taxonomy:...
) of Kauri
Agathis australis
Agathis australis, commonly known as the kauri, is a coniferous tree found north of 38°S in the northern districts of New Zealand's North Island. It is the largest but not tallest species of tree in New Zealand, standing up to 50 m tall in the emergent layer above the forest's main canopy. The...
timber, completing and launching her in 1982.
The Totorore left Kerikeri on 26 February 1983, eventually returning on 6 November 1986, 3 years, 8 months and 16 days later, having travelled some 71,000 km eastwards, around and about the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Peninsula
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica. It extends from a line between Cape Adams and a point on the mainland south of Eklund Islands....
, visiting numerous islands to survey and count seabirds. The most significant ornithological work was carried out in southern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
where new colonies of several species were discovered, and in South Georgia where comprehensive and accurate counts were made of Wandering Albatross
Wandering Albatross
The Wandering Albatross, Snowy Albatross or White-winged Albatross, Diomedea exulans, is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae, which has a circumpolar range in the Southern Ocean. It was the first species of albatross to be described, and was long considered the same species as the Tristan...
es and King Penguin
King Penguin
The King Penguin is the second largest species of penguin at about , second only to the Emperor Penguin. There are two subspecies—A. p. patagonicus and A. p...
s along the long coastline. During much of the expedition Clark was accompanied and aided by one or two companions, but sometimes, as on a late leg of the voyage between Marion Island and Fremantle, Australia, he was alone and frequently imperilled by rough seas and equipment failure.
Following his return, honours received by Clark included:
- 1986 - Blue Water Trophy (Northland Harbour Board)
- 1986 - Tillman Medal for Cruising in High Latitudes (Royal Cruising Club of Great Britain)
- 1987 - Blue Water Medal (Cruising Club of AmericaCruising Club of America-History:It was launched in the winter of 1921-1922 by a handful of experienced offshore sailors interested in cruising and the development of the cruising type of yacht....
) - 1987 - MBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
- 1988 - Tequila Propeller Award (Royal Akarana Yacht Club)
- 1988 - Fred Norris Medal (Devonport Yacht Club)
- 1988 - Stolberger Memorial Award (New Zealand Yacht Club Navigators Society)
- 1988 - FellowFellowA fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
ship of the Royal Geographic Society
For the next twelve years Clark continued his interest in seabird conservation and New Zealand’s subantarctic islands by making numerous trips in the Totorore to assist researchers from the Department of Conservation to count, map and study seabirds. It was in the course of one of these expeditions, to recover satellite transmitters used to track albatrosses breeding on the Antipodes Islands
Antipodes Islands
The Antipodes Islands are inhospitable volcanic islands to the south of—and territorially part of—New Zealand...
, that the Totorore disappeared on about 12 June 1999 off the south coast of Antipodes Island, along with Clark and his companion Roger Sale.http://www.ranui.co.nz/totorore.html
Publications
Clark wrote a book, based upon extracts from his diary, about the Totorore expedition “The Totorore Voyage’’ first published in 1988 by Century Hutchinson, Auckland. He also produced reports and published papers in various journals and bulletins on his research, including:- Clark, G. (1983). Totorore expedition to southern Chile. Australasian Seabird Group Newsletter 18: 20-21.
- Clark, G.S.; Meyer, A.P. von; Nelson, J.W.; Watt, J.N. (1984). Notes on the sooty shearwaters and other avifauna of the Chilean offshore island of Guafo. Notornis 31: 225-231.
- Clark, G.S.; Goodwin, A.J.; Meyer, A.P. von.. (1984). Extension of the known range of some seabirds on the coast of southern Chile. Notornis 31: 320-324.
- Clark, G.S. (1985). Cattle egrets near Antarctica in April. Notornis 32: 325.
- Clark, G.S. (1986). Seabirds observed in the Pacific Southern Ocean during autumn. Australasian Seabird Group Newsletter 23: 1-15.
- Clark, G.S.; Sale, C.S. (1986). Notes on the seabirds observed during the Totorore Expedition's voyage across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula and return, April 1985. Australasian Seabird Group Newsletter 24: 5-7.
- Clark, G.S. (1987). Seabird observations between South Georgia and South Africa from a sailing vessel. Cormorant 14: 20-30.
- Clark, G.S. (1989). Cape pigeons breeding and Westland black petrels seen at Chatham Islands. Notornis 36: 51-52.
- Bourne, W.R.P.; Brooke, M. de L.; Clark, G.S.; Stone, T. (1992). Wildlife conservation problems in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, Chile. Oryx 26: 43-51.
- Clark, G.S.; Cowan, A.; Harrison, P.; Bourne, W.R.P. (1992). Notes on the seabirds of the Cape Horn islands. Notornis 39: 133-144.
- Tennyson, A.J.D.; Mayhill, R.C.; Clark, G.S. (1993). A visit to The Pyramid and the Murumurus, Chatham Islands. Tane 34: 171-179.
- Clark, G.; Amey, J.; McAllister, G. (1995). Unexpectedly large number of wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) breeding on Antipodes Island, New Zealand. Notornis 42: 42-46.
- Clark, G.; Robertson, C.J.R. (1996). New Zealand whitecapped mollymawks (Diomedea cauta steadi) breeding with black-browed mollymawks (D. melanophrys melanophrys) at Antipodes Islands, New Zealand. Notornis 43: 1-6.
- Clark, G.; Booth, A.; Amey, J. (1998). The Totorore expedition to the Bounty Islands, New Zealand, October 1997 to January 1998. Unpublished report to Department of Conservation, Southland Conservancy, Invercargill. 64 pp.