28 Nov 2023
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
Had a fantastic day out on the latest pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand).
The highlights of the tour was seeing approx 145 Short-tailed Shearwater (including a flock of 50+ that few past). Numbers like this are very very uncommon in New Zealand, and having them flying round and round the back of the boat and diving deep down for food was a real treat for everyone onboard.
During the tour we recorded 28 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching nearly 24,000 stunning seabirds in total!!!
Conditions on the day were fine, with good strong 15 knot NW breeze throughout the day, and a 1.m swell.
If you’re interested in coming out 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:
3 x Northern Royal Albatross
1 x NZ Wandering Albatross (ssp. Gibson's)
1 x Salvin's Mollymawk
20 x White-capped Mollymawk
2 x Northern Giant Petrel
10,500 x Fairy Prion
200 x Cook's Petrel
3 x Pycroft's Petrel
1 x Grey-faced Petrel
3 x Black Petrel
9,250 x Buller's Shearwater
305 x Fluttering Shearwater
6 x Little Shearwater
130 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
16 x Sooty Shearwater
145 x Short-tailed Shearwater
25 x White-faced Storm-Petrel
22 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel
95 x Common Diving Petrel
1 x Little Blue Penguin
3 x Grey Noddy
1 x White-fronted Tern
1,400 x Australasian Gannet
1,600 x Red-billed Gull
11 x Black-backed Gull
43 x Pied Shag
1 x Little Black Shag
1 x Little Pied Shag
Other marine life included:
1 x Bronze Whaler Shark
6 x Bottle-nosed Dolphin
1 x Sunfish
2 x Flying Fish