| | Cat. |
Mint Unhinged |
Fine Used |
50c |
Black Coral Tree / Dusky Sound, Fiordland |
646a |
$0.90 |
|
$0.90 |
|
$1 |
Splendid Perch (Callanthias australis) / Mayor Island (Tuhua), Bay of Plenty |
646b |
$1.80 |
|
$1.80 |
|
$1.50 |
Red Coral (Errina novaezelandiae) / Fiordland |
646c |
$2.70 |
|
$2.70 |
|
$2 |
Diadema Urchin (Diadema palmeri) / Volkner Rocks, White Island, Bay of Plenty |
646d |
$3.60 |
|
$3.60 |
|
| |
|
Set of 4 individual stamps |
646e |
$8.55 |
|
$8.55 |
|
| |
50c |
Black Coral Tree / Dusky Sound, Fiordland (Self Adhesive) from Coil |
646f |
$0.90 |
|
$0.90 |
|
50c |
Black Coral Tree / Dusky Sound, Fiordland (Self Adhesive) from Booklet |
646g |
$0.90 |
|
$0.90 |
|
$1 |
Splendid Perch (Callanthias australis) / Mayor Island, Bay of Plenty (Self Adhesive) from Coil |
646h |
$2.25 |
|
$2.25 |
|
$1 |
Splendid Perch (Callanthias australis) / Mayor Island, Bay of Plenty (Self Adhesive) from Booklet |
646i |
$1.80 |
|
$1.80 |
|
| |
|
Self Adhesive Se-tenant Pair of one 50 cent and one $1 stamp |
646j |
$2.70 |
|
$2.70 |
|
| ... Two Stamps : 50c (646f), $1 (646h) |
| |
$5 |
Miniature Sheet with one 50 cent, one $1, one $1.50 and one $2 stamp |
646k |
$9.00 |
|
$9.00 |
|
| ... Four Stamps : 50c (646a), $1 (646b), $1.50 (646c), $2 (646d) |
| |
$5 |
Self Adhesive Booklet of ten 50 cent stamps |
646l |
$9.00 |
|
|
|
| ... Ten Stamps : 50c (646g x 10) |
$10 |
Self Adhesive Booklet of ten $1 stamps |
646m |
$18.00 |
|
|
|
| ... Ten Stamps : $1 (646i x 10) |
| |
|
First Day Cover - 9 January 2008 |
646n |
|
|
$12.60 |
|
| ... 50c (646a), $1 (646b), $1.50 (646c), $2 (646d) |
|
Miniature Sheet First Day Cover - 9 January 2008 |
646o |
|
|
$9.90 |
|
| ... $5 (646k) |
The 2008 Scenic stamp issue featured New Zealand Coral Reefs photographed
by Dr Kim Westerskov. Kim Westerskov is a photographer and writer who
specialises in images of aquatic and seashore life. He has a Ph.D. in
Marine Sciences from Otago University, and has written and illustrated
seventeen books about the seas, sea-life, and Antarctica.
The 50
cent stamp features Black Coral Trees from Dusky Sound in Fiordland. This
coral is usually found near offshore islands at depths greater than 45
metres. However, the coral grows at a depth of around 4 to 5 metres in
Dusky and Doubtful Sounds due to the unique aquatic conditions. The top few
meters is fresh water, fed from high inflows from the surrounding
mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a
layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the
fresh water layer make it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many
deep-sea species grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the
Sound.
The one dollar stamp features a school of Splendid Perch
(Callanthias Australis) swimming over common kelp (Ecklonia radiata) around
Tuhua (Mayor Island) - a dormant shield volcano located off the Bay of
Plenty coast of the North Island. The area of the Bay of Plenty around the
island is renowned for game fishing, however, the island and the waters
close to its shores are now a small marine reserve while the island itself
is a wildlife refuge.
The 50 cent and $1 stamps were also issued as
self-adhesives.
The $1.50 stamp features red hydrocoral (Errina
novaezelandiae) which is one of two protected marine invertebrate species
found in Fiordland. Stylasterid or hydrocorals are typically a deep water
family but the unique aquatic conditions described previously allow these
species to grow at depths accessible to divers. Errina novaezelandiae is
polymorphic with separate feeding and defensive polyps.
The two
dollar stamp features Diadema palmeri - a sea urchin of the Diadematidae
family. The diadema urchin has very sharp spines for defence and is active
at night, hiding in crevices or under rocks. Te Paepae o Aotea (also known
as the Volkner Rocks after Carl Sylvius Völkner) are a group of
andesitic rock stacks and pinnacles located 5 kilometres north-west of
Whakaari / White Island in the Bay of Plenty. A marine reserve was
established in 2006 and the area is popular with divers due to good
visibility, spectacular scenery and colourful marine life.

The miniature sheet features all four stamps from the
set with a photograph taken at Poor Knights Islands - a group of islands
off the east coast of Northland, 50 kilometres north-east of Whangarei. The
islands' name is said to derive from their resemblance to Poor
Knight's Pudding, a bread-based dish popular at the time of discovery
by Europeans. The chain consists of two large islands (Tawhiti Rahi and
Aorangi) with a group of smaller islets between the two, the largest of
which is Motu Kapiti. Tawhiti Rahi is also used as a name for the entire
chain. The islands are the eroded remnants of a 4 million year old
rhyolitic volcano and are protected as a nature reserve while the waters
for 800 metres around the islands are a marine reserve in which it is
prohibited to disturb marine life or remove rocks or shells. They are a
popular diving location due to the variety of marine fauna.