8 Dec 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 strong 15k S wind throughout the day and a sporty 1.5m swell

During the tour we recorded 25 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching just over 65,000 stunning seabirds in total! See below for the full list of seabirds recorded on the tour.

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.

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Northern Royal Albatross

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Fairy Prion feeding workup

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Black-winged Petrel

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Hutton's Shearwater

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Little Shearwater

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Buller's Shearwater

Here’s the full tour results from the day:

Seabirds seen:

• 1 x Northern Royal Albatross

• 1 x White-capped Mollymawk

• 32,000 x Fairy Prion

• 285 x Cook's Petrel

• 4 x Pycroft's Petrel

• 1 x Black-winged Petrel

• 1 x Grey-faced Petrel

• 6 x Black Petrel

• 31,000 x Buller's Shearwater

• 1 x Hutton's Shearwater

• 51 x Fluttering Shearwater

• 12 x Little Shearwater

• 51 x Flesh-footed Shearwater

• 8 x Short-tailed Shearwater

• 37 x White-faced Storm-Petrel

• 8 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel

• 42 x Common Diving Petrel

• 1 x Little Blue Penguin

• 1350 x Australasian Gannet

• 13 x Grey Noddy (Ternlet)

• 1 x Caspian Tern

• 500 x Red-billed Gull

• 1 x Black-backed Gull

• 49 x Pied Shag

• 1 x Little Black Shag

Other marine life included:

• 1 x Huge whale (poss Blue Whale)

• 15 x Common Dolphin

• 2 x Sunfish