Taking Back Our Beach

In the early hours of 5 October 2011, the container ship MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef (Ōtāiti), spilling hundreds of tonnes of oil into the sea. The environmental impact was devastating — threatening local ecosystems and wildlife as waves of oil washed up along the beaches of Mount Maunganui. Over a decade later, this feature-length documentary reflects on how the community came together in the aftermath, with volunteers rallying to rescue wildlife and remove debris from the beaches. In this excerpt, residents, community leaders, and wildlife and marine experts share their initial shock at the disaster.