19 May 2019
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
Had another great day out at The Petrel Station on our latest pelagic seabird trip out of Tutukaka (in northern New Zealand), with 6 of us venturing out via the Poor Knight Islands to the explore the deep beyond. Conditions were generally fine with strong winds up to 20+ knots throughout the day. Swell was small but the wind produced some good chop.
Highlights of the trip were:
25+ New Zealand Storm Petrels counted off the back of the boat. There was probably more but this was highest number we managed to count at once as they flicked around in the strong winds, and ducked behind waves.
20 Albatross/mollymawks covering 6 species.
During the trip we saw 23 different seabird species.
If you’re interested in coming out to The Petrel Station then check out the upcoming trip dates and get in touch – it’s always a great day out.
Here’s the full trip results from the day:
Seabirds seen:
7 x Wandering Albatross
4 x White-capped Mollymawk
2 x Buller's Mollymawk
3 x Black-browed Mollymawk
3 x Campbell's Mollymawk
1 x Salvin's Mollymawk
1 x Northern Giant Petrel
1 x Southern Giant Petrel
20 x Fairy Prion
1 x Cook's Petrel
10 x Black Petrel
20 x Grey-faced Petrel
3 x Cape Petrel
65 x Buller's Shearwater
100 x Fluttering Shearwater
7 x Little Shearwater
75 x Common Diving Petrel
25+ x NZ Storm Petrel
1 x Wilson's Storm Petrel
100 x Gannet
250 x Red-billed Gull
2 x Black-backed Gull
48 x Pied Shag
Other sea life included:
1 x Mako Shark