2-4 Nov 2024
THE PETREL STATION 3 DAY TRIP REPORT
We just completed our first 2024 triple header seabird tour where we head out for 3 days in a row to The Petrel Station (offshore from Tutukaka, Northland, New Zealand). It was a fantastic 3 days on the ocean with a great variety of stunning seabird species and an awesome group of people onboard.
During the 3 days we recorded 31 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching just over 125,000 stunning seabirds in total! See below for the full list of seabirds recorded on the tour.
Each day offered up different conditions: Day 1 was fine with light NW winds and small swell, Day 2 was 20+ knot S winds and a 1.5-2m swell, Day 3 delivered 10-15 knot S winds and 1.4m swell. This delivered up a wonderfully varied range of seabirds across the 3 days including some scarcer ones like a Long-tailed Skua, 23 Mottled Petrel on one day (most we've recorded), Pycroft's Petrel and some massive feeding workups of Fairy prion with up to 70,000 at once!! They really are a spectacle to witness.
Along with the seabirds we also encountered lots of other marine life with the highlight being a big pod of at least 50 Long-finned Pilot Whales which dropped by for incredible extended views, at times all around and under the boat.
We've got 2 more triple headers running this spring with a few spare spaces - these offer a greater chance of seeing a wide range of seabirds. If you’re interested in joining us for one or more days of the triple header, or would like to come out on one of our other pelagic seabird tours to The Petrel Station (offshore from Tutukaka, New Zealand) then check out the upcoming tour dates and get in touch.
It’s always a great day out, and the best way to experience these stunning seabirds is out on the ocean, in their world 🙂
Here’s the full results from the 3 days:
Seabirds seen:
1 x Antipodean Albatross (ssp. Gibson's)
4 x Salvin's Albatross
1 x Black-browed Albatross
100 x White-capped Albatross
1 x Long-tailed Skua
4 x Northern Giant Petrel
91,000 x Fairy Prion
23 Mottled Petrel
470 x Cook's Petrel
9 x Pycroft's Petrel
1 x Cape Petrel
9 x Grey-faced Petrel
21 x Black Petrel
27,500 x Buller's Shearwater
261 x Fluttering Shearwater
101 x Little Shearwater
34 x Sooty Shearwater
2 x Short-tailed Shearwater
200 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
54 x White-faced Storm Petrel
28 x New Zealand Storm Petrel
5 x Wilson's Storm Petrel
2100 x Common Diving Petrel
4 x Little Blue Penguin
2 x White-fronted Tern
1900 x Australasian Gannet
1450 x Red-billed Gull
37 x Black-backed Gull
73 x Pied Shag
2 x Little Pied Shag
3 x Little Black Shag
Other marine life seen:
50 x Long-finned Pilot Whale
20 x Bottlenose Dolphin
15 x Common Dolphin
1 x Blue Fin Tuna (leaping clear of water)
1 x Mako Shark
1 x Blue Shark
3 x NZ Fur Seal
1 x Flying Fish
Huge schools of tens/hundreds of thousands of Trevally