19 May 2019

THE PETREL STATION TOUR REPORT

Had another great day out at The Petrel Station on our latest pelagic seabird tour out of Tutukaka (in northern New Zealand), with 6 of us venturing out via the Poor Knight Islands to the explore the deep beyond. Conditions were generally fine with strong winds up to 20+ knots throughout the day. Swell was small but the wind produced some good chop.

Highlights of the tour were:

• 25+ New Zealand Storm Petrels counted off the back of the boat. There was probably more but this was highest number we managed to count at once as they flicked around in the strong winds, and ducked behind waves.

• 20 Albatross/mollymawks covering 6 species.

During the tour we saw 23 different seabird species.

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 tour results from the day:

Seabirds seen:

• 7 x Wandering Albatross

  4 x White-capped Mollymawk

  2 x Buller's Mollymawk

  3 x Black-browed Mollymawk

  3 x Campbell's Mollymawk

  1 x Salvin's Mollymawk

  1 x Northern Giant Petrel

  1 x Southern Giant Petrel

  20 x Fairy Prion

  1 x Cook's Petrel

  10 x Black Petrel

  20 x Grey-faced Petrel

  3 x Cape Petrel

  65 x Buller's Shearwater

  100 x Fluttering Shearwater

  7 x Little Shearwater

  75 x Common Diving Petrel

  25+ x NZ Storm Petrel

  1 x Wilson's Storm Petrel

  100 x Gannet

  250 x Red-billed Gull

  2 x Black-backed Gull

  48 x Pied Shag

Other sea life included:

• 1 x Mako Shark