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After half a century spent exploring the depths of the world’s oceans, acclaimed underwater cameraman Andrew Penniket is bringing his extraordinary experiences to the public in his memoir Whales, Snails and Lobster Tales.
The book is a vivid collection of stories that capture both the wonder and the unpredictability of life beneath the sea.
Now based in Central Otago, Penniket grew up in Warkworth, and attended Warkworth Primary School and Mahurangi College. He studied biology at university before starting with TVNZ’s Natural History Unit in Dunedin. As an award-winning cameraman, his work has featured in international productions for the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and others.
He says that via the television screen, he has been privileged to share many events with millions of people around the world, and now he is revealing a bit of the background – anecdotes about animals and people, the obstacles and dangers encountered, the struggles and the rewards.
It’s been a lifetime of adventure, which includes witnessing the haunting beauty of marine life beneath
Antarctic ice, dancing alongside swimming snails off Kaikōura and enduring the less glamorous moment of being defecated on by a sperm whale in Tonga.
It also offers a rare glimpse into the hidden lives of ocean creatures, from the secretive nocturnal behaviour of lobsters to the dazzling courtship displays of giant cuttlefish, dubbed the “peacocks of the sea.”
Penniket also shares the challenges behind the camera, including the difficulty of filming elusive octopus and the persistence required to track orca pods around New Zealand’s coastline.
His journeys take readers from the depths of Milford Sound to remote volcanic islands where he filmed tame grouper, and into underwater cave systems carved deep within mountains. Along the way, he documents both triumphs and setbacks including a much too close encounter with a submersible in the Marlborough Sounds.
In his author’s note, he reflects on the deeper purpose behind his memoir.
The book coincides with the 50th anniversary of New Zealand’s first marine reserve at Goat Island.
Having dived there for nearly 60 years, Penniket offers a firsthand account of its transformation from barren seafloor to thriving ecosystem – a powerful example, he says, of how marine conservation can restore ocean health.
While Whales, Snails and Lobster Tales celebrates the beauty and mystery of the ocean, it does not shy away from the challenges facing marine environments today.
Penniket highlights both the threats and the solutions, emphasising that even simple management changes can yield dramatic improvements.
“Marine reserves are among the most positive and essential directions for the future of our seas.”
The memoir is aimed at a broad audience, from divers and fishers to students, adventurers and anyone captivated by the sea.
Meet the author
Using marine reserves as a link, Andrew Penniket will give two public talks in Warkworth next month, covering everything from lobsters, Fiordland and Antarctica to penguins, Snares Islands, Kermadecs Islands, orca and hapuka. The talks will be at the Bridgehouse on Tuesday May 12, starting at 6pm; and in the Southgate Room at The Oaks, on Wednesday May 13, at 12.30pm. All welcome.
Book Giveaway
Mahurangi Matters has a copy of Whales, Snails and Lobster Tales to give away to one lucky reader. Email your name and phone number to: gm@localmatters.co.nz with ‘Whales’ in the subject line before midday on May 6 to go into the draw.
