29 Feb 2024
THE PETREL STATION TOUR REPORT
Had a fantastic day out on our special 'LEAP DAY' pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand). Conditions on the day were mostly fine, with a good steady 15 knot wind and 1.5m swell - great seabird conditions :)
Highlights of the tour were:
A stunning White-necked Petrel
8 Black-winged Petrels
During the tour we recorded 20 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching just short of 12,000 stunning seabirds in total! See below for the full list of seabirds recorded on the tour.
If you’re interested in coming out to The Petrel Station then check out the 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:
2 x White-capped Mollymawk
1 x Fairy Prion
1 x White-necked Petrel
139 x Cook's Petrel
3 x Pycroft's Petrel
8 x Black-winged Petrel
30 x Black Petrel
10,750 x Buller's Shearwater
9 x Fluttering Shearwater
27 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
2 x Sooty Shearwater
7 x White-faced Storm-Petrel
9 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel
650 x Australasian Gannet
2 x Little Blue Penguin
47 x Grey Ternlet
1 x Caspian Tern
225 x Red-billed Gull
5 x Black-backed Gull
49 x Pied Shag
Other marine life included:
1 x Hammerhead Shark
1 x Mako Shark
1 x Sunfish