19 May 2024
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
Had an awesome day out on the latest pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand). Conditions on the day were overcast, with solid 10-15 knot SE winds, and a 1.5-2m swell.
During the tour we recorded 26 different seabird species which is our HIGHEST AUTUMN SPECIES COUNT to date :). A Brown Skua put on a great display flying round the boat, and we were surprised to still see some late season Grey Noddies on the offshore rocks as well. See below for the full list of seabirds recorded on the tour.
We've got one last autumn tour left for 2024 which still some places available, and there's plenty of winter and spring tours as well, so if you’re interested in coming out on a pelagic seabird tour 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 trip results from the day:
Seabirds seen:
2 x Antipodean Albatross (ssp. Gibsons)
1 x Buller's Mollymawk
2 x Campbell Mollymawk
2 x Black-browed Mollymawk
3 x White-capped Mollymawk
1 x Brown Skua
70 x Fairy Prion
3 x Cook's Petrel
30 x Grey-faced Petrel
15 x Black Petrel
120 x Buller's Shearwater
6 x Little Shearwater
11 x Fluttering Shearwater
1 x Sooty Shearwater
1 x Short-tailed Shearwater
1 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
1 x Wilson's Storm Petrel
35 x New Zealand Storm Petrel
550 x Common Diving Petrel
11 x Grey Ternlet
275 x Australasian Gannet
1 x Caspian Tern
17 x Red-billed Gull
4 x Black-backed Gull
48 x Pied Shag
1 x Little Pied Shag
Other marine life seen:
14 x NZ Fur Seal
2 x Flying Fish