30 March 2026
THE PETREL STATION TOUR REPORT
What a fantastic way to end our brilliant summer season on our latest pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand).
Highlights of the tour were:
Wedge-tailed Shearwater - scarce in NZ
8 Wilson's Storm Petrel - our most ever
The most Black Petrels we've ever recorded, swirling around the boat
In total we recorded just over 2,000 stunning seabirds, and 22 seabird species (see the full species list below). Conditions on the day were mostly fine, with 12-18 knot winds and a 1.5m swell.
Keen to join us for a unique seabird experience in 2026? With summer now over we're looking forward to our autumn and winter seasons when all the Albatross species and Southern Ocean seabirds return to our area, and our local winter breeders build up in numbers too. So check out our upcoming seabird tour dates and get in touch – It’s always a great day out 😁.
Here’s the full tour results from the day:
Seabirds seen:
11 x White-capped Albatross
187 x Fairy Prion
20 x Cook's Petrel
1 x Pycroft's Petrel
85 x Black Petrel
210 x Buller's Shearwater
800 x Fluttering Shearwater
2 x Hutton's Shearwater
1 x Wedge-tailed Shearwater
10 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
145 x Common Diving Petrel
1 x White-faced Storm Petrel
30 x New Zealand Storm Petrel
8 x Wilson's Storm Petrel
3 x Little Blue Penguin
58 x Grey Noddy
8 x White-fronted Tern
335 x Australasian Gannet
50 x Red-billed Gull
4 x Black-backed Gull
53 x Pied Shag
1 x Little Black Shag
Other marine life encountered:
4 x Mahimahi Fish
1 x NZ Fur Seal
1 x Flying Fish