23 Oct 2022

THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT

Had another great spring day out at The Petrel Station on our latest pelagic seabird trip out of Tutukaka (in northern New Zealand). Conditions on the day were light winds (10 knots which dropped away in afternoon) and a small swell.

The highlights of the trip were:

  • 2 stunning CHATHAM ALBATROSS - this is now the third year in a row that we’ve had Chatham Albatross turn up on the late October pelagic trips - think they might be a regular now :)

  • The incredible experience of being surrounded by 50,000+ Fairy Prion and 5,000+ Buller’s Shearwaters busily chomping down on krill during a massive feeding frenzy work up.

During the trip we saw 24 different seabird species, and had a mind-blowing 65,000+ 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:

  • 8 x White-capped Albatross

  • 5 x Salvin’s Albatross

  • 2 x CHATHAM ALBATROSS

  • 50,000+ x Fairy Prion

  • 1 x Northern Giant Petrel

  • 45 x Cook’s Petrel

  • 1 x Pycroft's Petrel

  • 1 x White-chinned Petrel

  • 6 x Black Petrel

  • 1 x Cape Petrel

  • 150 x Flesh-footed Shearwater

  • 12,000 x Buller’s Shearwater

  • 2,500 x Fluttering

  • 12 x Sooty Shearwater

  • 35 x Little Shearwater

  • 60 x White-faced Storm-Petrel

  • 8 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel

  • 1 x Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

  • 1,000 x Common Diving Petrel

  • 850 x Australasian Gannet

  • 1 x Arctic Skua

  • 400 x RBG

  • 12 x BBG

  • 51 x Pied Shag

Other marine life included:

  • A pod of False Killer Whales (Pseudo Orca) - approx 10 to 15

  • 1 x Pilot Whale which leapt out of water amongst the feeding frenzy!

  • 6 x Fur Seals

  • 2 x Mako Shark

  • 2 x Whale spouts (unidentified)

  • Some distant dolphins (unidentified)

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