21 Aug 2022
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). We'd hardly left the harbour before we were sitting in a constant stream of Fairy Prion heading north - estimate approx 6000+ went through in 10 minutes!
Out deep at The Petrel Station we had our standard species, but we were somewhat distracted when we kept sighting whale blows nearby us and then we were thrilled when a couple of massive Brydes Whales surfaced multiple times within a few metres of the boat letting out mighty blows.
When we finally headed back in we got caught up in a couple of incredibly dense seabird feeding frenzies of at least 14,000 Fairy Prion, plus Fluttering Shearwaters and Red-billed Gulls - another amazing spectacle.
During the trip we saw 19 different seabird species, and over 22,000 seabirds in total! The full seabird species list is below.
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:
1 x NZ Wandering Albatross
4 x White-capped Albatross
20,000+ x Fairy Prion
2 x Buller's Shearwater
650 x Fluttering Shearwater
45 x Little Shearwater
7 x Cook's Petrel
85 x Grey-faced Petrel
1 x White-chinned Petrel
12 x White-faced Storm Petrel
500 x Common Diving Petrel
1 x Little Blue Penguin
600 x Gannet
2 x Caspian Tern
3 x White-fronted Tern
50 x Black-backed Gull
450 x Red-billed Gull
62 x Pied Shag
1 x Little Black Shag
Other marine life included:
5 x Brydes Whales
Group of NZ Fur Seals