What are Kina Barrens?

A kina barren (or urchin barren) is an area of bare rocky reef where kina have eaten all of the normally-occuring kelp and seaweed cover.

This usually happens because people have over-fished the kinas’ natural predators — large snapper and rock lobster — which allows the kinas’ population to explode unchecked. Bad news for the kelp and the many species that depend on it for a healthy habitat.

Below is an example of a kina barren in the making (there is still some remaining kelp amongst the bare rocks) in a small cove between Onetangi Bay and Cactus Bay along the north shore of Waiheke, shot on Jan 10 2019.