16 Dec 2023
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
!! A staggering 118,500 seabirds !!
Not a bad way to finish the 2023 seabird tour season out at The Petrel Station (offshore from Tutukaka, Northland, New Zealand). This is the most seabirds we've encountered on a single tour including a massive 60,000+ Fairy Prion feeding workup on the way back in at the end of the day – a mindblowing sight and a great finale for the year!
Conditions on the day were fine, with a various wind (8 to 12knots) and a 1m swell.
During the tour we recorded 25 different seabird species, and as mentioned we enjoyed watching approx 118,500 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 NZ Wandering Albatross (Gibson's)
11 x White-capped Mollymawk
62,500 x Fairy Prion
86 x Cook's Petrel
1 x Pycroft's Petrel
4 x Grey-faced Petrel
7 x Black Petrel
1 x White-chinned Petrel
50,000 x Buller's Shearwater
2,500 x Fluttering Shearwater
3 x Hutton's Shearwater
18 x Little Shearwater
31 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
3 x Sooty Shearwater
10 x Short-tailed Shearwater
33 x White-faced Storm-Petrel
3 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel
14 x Common Diving Petrel
1,400 x Australasian Gannet
5 x Grey Ternlet
1,750 x Red-billed Gull
9 x Black-backed Gull
42 x Pied Shag
1 x Little Black Shag
1 x Little Pied Shag
Other marine life included:
1 x Huge Blue Shark
3 x Sunfish, including 1 leaping out of water!
1 x Flying Fish