1 Oct 2023

THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT

Had a great day out on the latest pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand). Conditions on the day were fine, with a steady 10-15 knot SW winds, and a 1-1.5m swell.

The highlights of the tour were:

  • At least 50 NZ Storm Petrel off the back of the boat at once - huge numbers for so early in spring!!

  • 40+ Albatross/Mollymawk - the most we've had on a trip

  • Bryde's Whale lunge feeding on Krill amongst a huge seabird workup

During the trip we saw 24 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching just over 34,000 stunning seabirds in total! See the full trip list below.

If you’re interested in coming out to The Petrel Station then check out the upcoming tour dates and get in touch – it’s always a great day out.

I'd also like to say a huge thanks to a couple of people whose generous donations made this particular tour possible, even though we only had 4 people onboard (due to a weather related date change). I really appreciate their support and for getting behind the long-term seabird sighting research project that's being run in conjunction with the seabird tours.

Here’s the full trip results from the day:

Seabirds seen:

  • Here’s the full trip results:

  • 3 x Northern Royal Albatross

  • 2 x NZ Wandering Albatross (ssp. Gibson's)

  • 2 x Salvin's Mollymawk

  • 35 x White-capped Mollymawk

  • 5 x Mollymawk sp.

  • 8 x Northern Giant petrel

  • 26,500 x Fairy Prion

  • 50 x Cook's Petrel

  • 2 x Cape Petrel

  • 18 x Grey-faced Petrel

  • 5,000 x Buller's Shearwater

  • 550 x Fluttering Shearwater

  • 6 x Sooty Shearwater

  • 2 x Flesh-footed Shearwater

  • 17 x Little Shearwater

  • 50 x New Zealand Storm Petrel

  • 13 x White-faced Storm Petrel

  • 125 x Common Diving Petrel

  • 1,200 x Australasian Gannet

  • 4 x White-fronted Tern

  • 750 x Red-billed Gull

  • 5 x Black-backed Gull

  • 28 x Pied Shag

  • 2 x Little Black Shag

  • 1 x Black Shag

Other marine life included:

  • 1 x Fin Whale

  • 2 x Mako Shark

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