THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT

We had a special seabird charter tour out to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand). The charter was mostly a seabird watching tour but the guests also wanted to have a crack at fishing and do some sightseeing around the Poor Knights Islands.

We had an outstanding day out on the water and during the tour we recorded 18 different seabird species, encountered a massive feeding workup of approx 40,000 Buller's Shearwater, and enjoyed watching just over 51,000 stunning seabirds in total! Conditions on the day were fine, with very light 2-7 knot winds and a small swell. See below for the full list of seabirds recorded on the tour.

A major highlight of the day was a brief sighting of a 6 metre long Whale Shark – these are pretty uncommon in NZ waters, and it’s the first one we've ever recorded out at The Petrel Station.

After several hours of seabird watching we went for a short fish and the Tutukaka area lived up to its reputation as a prime fishing location, with everyone catching a fish, including a very good sized Hapuka! The fishing was followed by a bit of sightseeing around the islands with the highlights being Rikoriko cave (which is the one of the largest sea caves in the world) and some impressively big archways.

A great day out with an awesome bunch of people – see you all next year when we do it all again :)

If you’re interested in coming out to The Petrel Station then check out the upcoming trip dates, or if you'd like to do a special charter tour then just get in touch – it’s always a great day out!