10 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 a light wind (5 to 10 knots) and a small swell.
During the tour we recorded 25 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching just short of 85,000 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.
Here’s the full tour results from the day:
Seabirds seen:
1 x Northern Royal Albatross
1 x NZ Wandering (ssp. Gibson's)
2 x White-capped Mollymawk
60,000 x Fairy Prion
122 x Cook's Petrel
3 x Pycroft's Petrel
1 x Grey-faced Petrel
9 x Black Petrel
22,000 x Buller's Shearwater
25 x Fluttering Shearwater
15 x Little Shearwater
1 x Hutton's Shearwater
39 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
7 x Sooty Shearwater
5 x Short-tailed Shearwater
27 x White-faced Storm-Petrel
6 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel
1 x Wilson's Storm-Petrel
36 x Common Diving Petrel
18 x Grey Ternlet
1,375 x Australasian Gannet
1,250 x Red-billed Gull
1 x Black-backed Gull
52 x Pied Shag
1 x Little Black Shag
Other marine life included:
1 x Blue Shark (baby)