25 Aug 2024
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
This was the last winter seabird tour out to The Petrel Station for the year and with 12,000 Fairy Prion seen during the day the numbers have already started building well in preparation for the upcoming spring breeding season. Most of the other local breeding species will be returning from mid-September
During the tour we enjoyed watching just over 15,000 stunning seabirds in total! See below for the full list of seabirds recorded on the tour. Conditions on the day were fine, a 1m swell, and hardly any wind (around 5 knots).
If you’re interested in coming out on a pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station(offshore from Tutukaka, New Zealand) then check out the upcoming tour dates and get in touch – it’s always a great day out. The oustanding spring is just around the corner and many dates are already booked out.
Here’s the full trip results from the day:
Seabirds seen:
6 x White-capped Mollymawk
12,000 x Fairy Prion
3 x Cook's Petrel
28 x Little Shearwater
750 x Fluttering Shearwater
90 x Common Diving Petrel
14 x White-faced Storm Petrel
1,600 x Australasian Gannet
1 x Caspian Tern
580 x Red-billed Gull
8 x Black-backed Gull
56 x Pied Shag
2 x Black Shag
2 x Little Black Shag
Other marine life seen:
15 x Bottle-nosed Dolphin
38 x NZ Fur Seal