Sea and shore birds, and their habitat across the West Coast Te Tai Poutini, are healthy and thriving.
Our Mission is to achieve this through research, education, awareness, advocacy and practical projects, founded on strong science.
Penguins and other sea and shore birds are a treasure or taonga, and we strive to protect and conserve them and their habitat – the wider marine and coastal environment.
Our vision continues to be that “Sea and shore birds and their habitat of the West Coast Te Tai Poutini are healthy and thriving”.
Our Mission is to achieve the vision through research, education, awareness, advocacy and practical projects, founded on strong science.
Message from the Chair
Robin Long
After three years as Chair, I will be handing the role over to a rotating roster of Trustees at the August AGM, as I have been spending too much time overseas lately to do it justice. Nevertheless, the conservation of penguins and West Coast ecosystems is still a very important part of my life, so I will remain on board as a trustee.
The 2023-24 year has seen a fresh start for the Trust as our Education Ranger, Lucy Waller, took on the additional role of general Ranger, but also a long hard look at our funding streams and the sustainability of our operations.
In my message a year ago, I acknowledged that the Trust has relied upon funding from DOC for half of our operational expenses, and that the DOC funding appears to have dried up. With an increased focus on fundraising and grant applications, we are faring better than expected a year ago and are quietly confident that we will continue to do so. We've had to make some tough decisions around our reduced budget but we believe in the value of our work and the need for it to continue.
We are immensely grateful for everyone's support and hope it will continue as we work towards our vision of a healthy and thriving Tai Poutini.
Thank you, with appreciation for all your help - ngā mihi maioha
Robin Long, Chair, West Coast Penguin Trust, August 2024
Tragically, a loose dog dug a little blue penguin / kororā out of a nest box in late July and killed it. It is almost certain that the same dog killed the partner of the dead penguin a few days later.
This horrific news and the deaths of these penguins should be absolutely avoidable.
The Trust joined DOC, Buller DC and the Carters Beach Reserves Committee at the August Carters Beach market to share information about the presence of penguins and keeping dogs safe and under close control. It was a great opportunity to share information and agree some action.
As a result and with the group's input, the trust designed a flier, improved by compliance and dog control officer Tracy Judd, DOC and Sean Judd kindly printed it and Richard Nicholl, resident and on the Reserves Committee, delivered a copy to every home in the small Carters Beach community.
As always, the key message is that dogs are the biggest threat to penguins at the beach, and it is a simple matter of ensuring they are safe and secure at home and under close control when taken out for exercise.
Sadly, just before this attack, another little penguin was killed at Serpentine beach, near Kumara Junction.
Any beach could be used by little penguins. Any dog not under control, no matter how small and cuddly, could pick up and injure or kill a penguin, or scare it from a nest causing eggs or chicks to be abandoned.
We hate to harp on about this but it seems someone must.
We will be at the Barrytown School twilight gala on Friday 25th October to share the same thoughts and reminders.
Thank you for your responsible dog owner behaviour and sharing the reminder with friends who are dog owners.
With blood in its mouth and dog tracks all around it, the Department of Conservation (DOC) assumes that this little blue penguin or kororā was killed by a dog last week at Serpentine beach.
With blood in its mouth and dog tracks all around it, the Department of Conservation (DOC) assumes that this little blue penguin or kororā was killed by a dog last week at Serpentine beach.
This should be a season of good news as penguins are starting their breeding season.
Instead, DOC and the West Coast Penguin Trust are asking all dog owners to keep dogs under close control at the beach at all times and always out of the vegetated areas. Close control means that there is absolutely no doubt that they will return to you immediately that they are called, leaving anything of interest whether another dog, human, curious smell, food (perhaps toxic) or wildlife.
In fact, that request goes to all beach users.
West Coast Penguin Trust Manager, Inger Perkins, says everyone can help.
“It may be that dog owners are visiting the area and have no idea that there may be penguins present. It can’t hurt to say hello and just note that there may be penguins present so keeping dogs under close control and out of the dunes is important. Also, from dusk to dawn, dogs should be on a lead as penguins could be coming and going across the beach.
“Kororā are the smallest of all penguins, standing just 30cm tall. They are vulnerable to a variety of threats. Your darling dog might just want to play, with no malice at all, but unfortunately the necks of penguins cannot withstand the jaws or a playful shake of a dog of any size.”
With assistance from DOC, the West Coast Penguin Trust has been recording reports of dead penguins since 2006. The location and, where possible, the cause of death is added to a database. The results are clear: 56% of the penguin deaths were due to vehicles on our coastal roads while 19% were killed by dogs.
Penguin protection fences along the Coast Road north of Punakaiki and north of Hokitika, are keeping penguins safe on the sea side of roads and the proportion of penguins killed on the roads has reduced significantly since the fences were installed. However, there are other places where penguins will venture onto roads. If you’re travelling at night, it will be safer for you and give penguins more of a chance if you drive a little slower and allow a bigger gap when following another vehicle.
When it comes to dogs, the proportion of penguins killed by dogs has remained at around 19-20% of all reported penguin deaths. You will probably have seen signs at beach access points reminding us that penguins, as well as seals and other native wildlife, nest, rest and feed in the beach area. The shared advice from district councils, DOC and the Penguin Trust is to stay at least 20m, or four car lengths away, from any wildlife. Dog owners are encouraged to keep dogs on leads after dark and before dawn, and at all times in the dunes and coastal scrub where penguins could be nesting.
Ms Perkins, says:
“Sadly, encouragement is not always enough and if we have shared this message once, we have shared it a thousand times, and yet sadly here we are again.”
Senior Biodiversity Ranger at DOC in Greymouth, Darrell Haworth, explained:
“It is an offence if you’re the owner, or person in charge of a dog that attacks protected wildlife and that dog kills wildlife or injures them so badly they have to be destroyed to end suffering. Anyone convicted of such a charge can be sentenced to prison for up to 12 months, be fined up to $10,000, or both.
“But before looking at compliance options, why not think of the dog? A dog that is allowed to roam is not only a risk to wildlife but also to itself and road users if it wanders on to a road. Keeping your dog safe and secure at home, and under effective and close control when out walking or hunting, just makes sense.”
Ms Perkins added that penguins could be around at any time of year.
“We are approaching the breeding season for kororā as they sort out nests in anticipation of egg laying later this month. However, penguins could be using the beach you share with them at any time of year. You might see their tracks heading out to sea before the next tide washes footprints away.”
As the breeding season begins, DOC staff are likely to visit areas where penguins and other wildlife might be at risk from dogs, Darrell Haworth says.
“We’re keen to ensure the message is clear before we do so, to avoid having to potentially issue any infringement notices.
“Don’t take dogs where they are prohibited and ensure that you always have effective control of your dog - effective control means that your dog will immediately return to you when called.”
DOC has some advice to help dog owners be more responsible when exercising dogs at the beach:
Walk on the wet sand: you’ll be more likely to avoid wildlife
Feet on sand, lead in hand: always have your lead handy in case you need to keep your dog close)
Keep your dog on a lead near wildlife and stay four car lengths (20m) away, and
Help ’em out, give a shout (let other beach goers know when wildlife is present).
DOC has more information on its website.: www.doc.govt.nz/dogs-on-beachesKeeping your dog on a lead more often, especially between dusk and dawn and in vegetated coastal areas, will help keep your dog and wildlife safe
Education plays a key part in the West Coast Penguin Trust’s activities. We are welcomed into schools, armed with Kevin the taxidermy Kororā and Toni the Tawaki (fiordland crested penguin; the South Island West Coast’s second resident penguin). We visit schools and educate the students about penguins, thus encouraging discussions about the environment and conservation issues. It is never a difficult mission to get the students, and staff we should add, to fall in love with penguins, excited to find out that they have these wonderful creatures on their local beaches and then devastated to find out the struggle of survival they face due to humans! Using our Blue Penguins & Other Seabirds resource book, which links games and activities throughout the entire curriculum, fitting into any subject, the schools get involved in activities to learn lots of facts and then moving on to learning how to become the ‘Guardians of their penguin’ and taking the message home to their local communities.
Education plays a key part in the West Coast Penguin Trust’s activities. We are welcomed into schools, armed with Kevin the taxidermy Kororā and Toni the Tawaki (fiordland crested penguin; the South Island West Coast’s second resident penguin). We visit schools and educate the students about penguins, thus encouraging discussions about the environment and conservation issues. It is never a difficult mission to get the students, and staff we should add, to fall in love with penguins, excited to find out that they have these wonderful creatures on their local beaches and then devastated to find out the struggle of survival they face due to humans! Using our Blue Penguins & Other Seabirds resource book, which links games and activities throughout the entire curriculum, fitting into any subject, the schools get involved in activities to learn lots of facts and then moving on to learning how to become the ‘Guardians of their penguin’ and taking the message home to their local communities.
Many schools have gone on to being involved in penguin projects where they have built nest boxes for local colonies, set up trapping lines and monitored and observed local beaches, carried out beach clean ups and raised awareness in the community with newspaper articles, leaflets and presentations.
The school projects are invaluable and we are always very grateful for all the hard work and enthusiasm that goes into these projects.
Penguin and Seabird Educational Resource - now in second edition
The Trust has developed a penguin and seabird education resource aligned to the NZ Curriculum especially for the West Coast but it will be of value for educators and children everywhere, particularly coastal areas of New Zealand, and whether at school, home or youth group. The resource has recently been updated and improved and you can down load it and/or request a hard copy (scroll down for details.)
“Blue Penguins & Other Seabirds. Activities for exploration and action for schools and community groups” is aimed at children in the age range 5 to 9 but can be adapted for younger or older children. The goal is for local people to learn about and take action for the wildlife in their own back yard. Research has also shown that children gain essential values for the environment and a lifelong connectedness to nature in this age group.
Fun learning activities are included within the education resource, including games and arts and crafts. With all the resources on line, they are readily available to home school parents and students and indeed anyone with an interest in sharing a love for and interest in the coastal environment with children.
The project focuses on blue penguins but includes sooty shearwaters (both species are in Gradual Decline, 2005 NZ Threat Classification System), Fiordland Crested Penguins or Tawaki (Nationally Endangered) and Westland Petrels (Range Restricted), all in their natural habitat. The coastal habitat of these species on the West Coast has, as it has around NZ, been modified or disturbed by humans and their activities.
We welcome any feedback on the resource and we would also love to receive photographs and stories as you have a go at the various activities. Please send them to us at info@westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz.
Download the Education Resource - Second Edition out now!
The resource is available for download as a PDF, after completing the form below.
This web-friendly version is 59 pages – 7.8MB.
If you would like a beautiful hard copy of the resource, please email info@westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz.
LEARNZ Videos
When using the education resource, we regularly refer to the LEARNZ videos that are used in conjunction with the resource, and they can be found here on vimeo:
LEARNZ Videos
Year 10 Ecology Curriculum readily available here:
Our education resource targets primary school age, however it is possible to adapt our book to some secondary student work. The Trust is keen to connect with all education groups and to share resources and encourage schools to work together collaboratively.
Erica Jar at Buller High School, created a Year 10 ecology unit of work for her class and kindly shared it with us to edit and make penguin and seabird relevant. Those notes and lesson plans are now available here, in a zip file, with grateful thanks to Erica:
Penguin Ecology Year 10 Lesson Notes (Erica Jar, Buller High School, 2017)
We hope they will still offer useful value, despite an ever changing curriculum.
Schools taking action
A page for each school is being developed - work in progress!
In order to understand whether and if so which predators were contributing to an apparent decline in the numbers of Fiordland crested penguins, the West Coast Penguin Trust embarked on a study using trail cameras in 2014.
In order to understand whether and if so which predators were contributing to an apparent decline in the numbers of Fiordland crested penguins, the West Coast Penguin Trust embarked on a four year study using trail cameras in 2014.
For the 2019 season, which followed a 'mega-mast' seed event and predicted rat and subsequently stoat population explosions, the Trust established an annual breeding success monitoring programme.
In 2020, following a mega mast in Autumn 2019, the Trust has extended the project, with the support of Wellington Zoo and the Birds New Zealand Research Fund, with the aim of better understanding whether breeding success is adversely affected by the presence of stoats, and if so, what is the best means to manage that threat.
An overview of the work planned for the 2020 season is available on the Birds NZ website and a summary of the 2019-2020 seasons is here and the full report here.
There were many fewer stoats than expected and predation was low, which was great for the penguins and showed us that there is plenty more to learn about the relationship between beech mast events, stoat populations and predation. (Interim reports on the 2020 season can be found here (March) and here (June).)
The Trust's Tawaki Ranger and Trustee, Robin Long, gave this TED type talk in Franz Josef in October 2019, summing up the Trust's work and her experience of tawaki both at home in Gorge River and volunteering with The Tawaki Project.
Robin has continued her adventures to survey areas of Stewart Island with a survey of the Port Pegasus coast in September 2020. A report of her mission can be found here.Project Background
The Fiordland crested penguin, or tawaki, is in need of our help, being listed as Nationally Vulnerable and one of the least studied and rarest penguins.
Tawaki is the only crested penguin to inhabit the main islands and coasts of New Zealand. The 2012 IUCN red list classifies them as Vulnerable.
The West Coast Penguin Trust ensures that conservation management is based on good science.
Introduction The Trust has set out to establish which predators may be contributing to a decline in the population so that appropriate targeted action can be taken. This follows a technical review of the conservation status of both the species and earlier management actions and a priority action was to determine the effects of introduced predators on the breeding success of tawaki.A funding bid for a pre-predator control project to the Department of Conservation in 2014 was successful and motion activated cameras were purchased with sponsorship from local businessman, Geoff Robson of Greenstone Helicopters. Cameras are a low impact method of obtaining the information and these were installed at two colonies at Jackson Head and Gorge River in South Westland, in late August for the four breeding seasons 2014-2017. This work will ensure that any predator control targets the appropriate species in the most effective way, thus saving money and contributing to the conservation of the species in the longer term.Four-year studyOur study coincided with a five-year study into the ecology and particularly the foraging ecology of tawaki by Dr Thomas Mattern and The Tawaki Project. We were able to share both resources and findings and the projects complemented each other extremely well at the Jackson Head site.
In the second year of the study, 2015, El Niño conditions off the West Coast resulted in almost complete nest failure at Jackson Head as chicks starved and adults swam up to 100km for little food and poor nutrition.
In the third year, 2016, stoats, which had been scarce, appeared in large number at the Jackson Head site and both eggs and chicks were lost to predation.
A fourth year in 2017 found breeding back to 'normal' levels, without El Niño conditions and with barely any stoats visible on camera footage.
Link to study report after 2017 seasonWith two abnormal years in the four-year study, but it appears that the large numbers of stoats and the loss of chicks was a direct result of an earlier beech seed mast event close by. These events, when trees produce massive amounts of seed every 2- 6 years, result in explosions in mice and rat populations, followed by stoats. As the food source for stoats runs out - as the seeds rot and germinate and rodent numbers reduce - stoats are likely to spread out in search of food. We believe they spread to Jackson Head in 2016.
The report at the end of the fourth year is here: WCPT Tawaki report 2018 FinalShift of focus from predators to breeding success while assessing presence of stoats
Stoats are clearly the main land-based predator of and threat to tawaki in South Westland although only in some years when stoat numbers are in plague proportions, apparently or likely linked to mast events.
The Trust has shared its findings with the Department of Conservation and is recommending that landscape predator control operations be managed to take tawaki into account. They have traditionally been focused on species such as kaka and mohua, and ensuring tawaki nesting areas are included is a tiny step to take as treatment areas are already including or could include such colonies.
In order to gain a better understanding of the situation, the Trust started an annual breeding success survey of nests in the three areas of our study in the 2019 season and, in addition for the 2020 season, carried out trail camera and tracking tunnel monitoring (overview here).
A variety of both research and management priorities have been identified for tawaki and the West Coast Penguin Trust is involved in progressing those priorities for the benefit of the species, working with both the NZ Penguin Initiative and The Tawaki Project. Have a look at The Tawaki Project site for up to date blogs and news of their project, now focused in Milford Sound and check out http://pengu.cam/ for some extraordinary video footage, recorded under water from the back of a penguin.
In 2019, the Trust focussed on two colonies while the NZ Penguin Initiative did some intensive monitoring at Jackson Head. Read their report in the NZ_Penguin_initiative_ReportQ1_2020.pdf where they expected an invasion by stoats following the major mast event in summer 2018/19, but which did not eventuate.
A 2021 tawaki season report - WCPT has been summarised by Trust Ranger, Linden Brown.
Find a report on the 2022 tawaki season here.
A review of all three seasons monitored for breeding success and stoat presence (2019- 2021) to date can be found here. The summary is as follows:
Tawaki nests were monitored at three distinct colonies in South Westland for three years
The aim was to determine breeding success at these colonies; determine if there were any trends year to year, or between the colonies; and to better understand the link between mast events and stoat populations and predation as well as to methods of predator control.
Trail cameras and tracking tunnels were used to determine the presence of predators (especially stoats) within the colonies.
Breeding success was high at all three colonies for all three years, with no obvious differences or trends between years or between colonies.
Stoats were present at all three colonies at different times, however at low numbers, and are likely responsible for a few tawaki nest failures.
The mast event of 2018-19 did not result in any observable increase in stoat numbers in the colonies in either the 2019 or 2020 seasons
Lack of food did not appear to be an issue for breeding tawaki during the study period.
2023 tawaki season summary
It was a surprising season for tawaki at all three of the colonies we monitor in South Westland. Dire results were anticipated due to the forecast arrival of El Niño conditions and our previous experience of the strong El Niño conditions that started in July 2015. However, possibly due to the El Niño arriving later, in September and well into the breeding season, and not being as severe, tawaki had a very successful season. (Handy short introductory video to El Niño and La Niño here from NIWA.)
Ranger Sarah Kivi returned to the trust to undertake the monitoring at two sites, one each north and south of Haast. One site had 17 nest checks completed twice in the season with 28 eggs recorded on the first visit and the second visit showing 17 nests still occupied, one failed attempt and 18 chicks. Three of the nests included two healthy, similar-sized large chicks – highly unusual. The usual breeding strategy for crested penguins is to focus on the second hatched and larger chick, which is usually the only one to survive.
The second site had 14 nest checks completed twice in the season, the first finding 13 nests occupied and 20 eggs, and the second check showing 14 nests occupied, two failed attempts, one nest not breeding, two nests with eggs and 13 chicks, and again highly unusually, three nests with two healthy, similar-sized large chicks.
Our Gorge River site monitored by Catherine Stewart also reported a similar success story with nine nests of ten monitored with cameras successfully raising one chick to crèching. Double clutching – raising two chicks - was seen or assumed in a remarkable seven of the other 17 nests monitored, near the end of the chick guard phase. Eggs were not seen to have hatched at three nests monitored and established at the start of the season. The presence of two chicks was confirmed almost to fledging in four of these. However, no photo showed two chicks together with the parent to distinguish them from two chicks from separate nests crèching together. After the chick guard stage, tawaki chicks gather in groups or crèches with an adult or two keeping an eye on them while other adults forage.
With 100% being one chick raised from each nesting attempt, the figure was 90-115% for Gorge River. For the other South Westland sites, the figure was 100% compared to 72-100% in 2022 and similar figures in 2019-2021. (We note that two nest checks over a season cannot give us accurate data, but they provide indicative breeding success rates.)
The Trust started life in 2004 as the Blue Penguin Group, a group of concerned residents in the Greymouth/Charleston area who had noticed that blue penguin numbers were declining. The Trust has been monitoring penguin breeding success in a number of colonies ever since and using the lessons leaned to improve conservation management for these penguins on the West Coast.
Science is at the heart of our work
Under the direction of former Lincoln University ecologist, Trust Scientist and former Chair, Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM, science underlies all the the Trust does. The Trust began by determining the role of stoat predation on the apparent decline of blue penguins in the Buller area.
Stoat traplines were established around three colonies, while two others were left un-trapped, and then nests were monitored for breeding success. After five years, it was clear that the breeding success was not improved by stoat trapping and just a couple of incidents of predation by a stoat were recorded.
At the same time, working with the Department of Conservation, a blue penguin mortality database was established. This showed that the vast majority of dead blue penguins reported to the Trust or to DOC, around 60-70% depending on location, were being killed on roads close to the coast. The second largest killer of penguins on land was dogs.
This was compelling evidence to focus our efforts on preventing penguins being killed on the roads and by dogs. Read more about the penguin protection fence project here.
Ensuring that penguins are safe from dogs is an on-going challenge, one that the Trust has attempted to address in a variety of ways, and work is continuing in collaboration with the Department of Conservation and the three District Councils.
In the meantime, monitoring of penguin colonies was expanded to include other sites in the Buller area and we now maintain the monitoring of two colonies on a fortnightly basis throughout the breeding season and twice yearly for the other colonies. Long term data is invaluable for improved understanding of the species and could alert us to major issues.
Burrowscopes
Monitoring is undertaken using burrowscopes. These are small cameras on the end of a 2m flexible tube, sending images back to a monitor. The camera can be gently inserted into a burrow, often quite deep underground, to establish whether eggs or chicks are present with minimal disturbance for the penguins.
In addition to the Buller monitoring, the Trust has carried out surveys of Okarito penguins in 2008, 2013 and again in October 2018. The colony south of Okarito is generally well away from human disturbance and numbers appear to be steady.
What's happening now
Masters student Luisa Salis-Soglio is currently reviewing all the data monitoring date to and including 2019, aiming to establish any trends, as well as any links to knowledge of foraging patterns established through our GPS study.
After a disappointing breeding season in 2019 with chicks lost to starvation, the 2020 season was been far better, with breeding success at 66.7% at one site (numbers of chicks fledged from eggs laid) and an excellent 89.6% at the other.
The 2021 breeding season was outstanding, with chicks fledging from 82% and 93% of eggs laid from the two colonies monitored fortnightly. Read about the 2021 season here.
Sadly, the 2022 season was again a poor one, with chicks fledging from only 35% of eggs laid. Read a season report here.
Nest box design
In areas where weka are present, they will try to predate penguin chicks. Nest box design is critical and we have provided a design that aims to minimise the risk of predation by weka. Read more and find the design here.
Cape Foulwind is a wonderful place to visit at any time and we're hoping to add to that experience by carrying out predator control for sooty shearwaters. 'Sooties' can be seen between November and May as they fly back to their burrows over the wooden section of Cape Foulwind Walkway.
Sooty Shearwaters / Titī
Although the population of sooty shearwaters is in the millions, they are in decline, surviving on islands, particularly around the southern South Island. A handful of 'sooties' nest on the mainland at Cape Foulwind and the Trust has been encouraging more to nest here and trying to protect those that do with trapping.
Over the past few years, numbers nesting at this site have increased, but the colony remains small and as yet no chicks have fledged. With more frequent monitoring and using trail cameras in the 2022 season, we learned that weka may be responsible for taking chicks immediately after hatching.
These large black birds are consummate seabirds, flying up to 2000 km from home on foraging trips and have been recorded diving more than 60 m. They return to their nests around dusk, so simply standing on the Wall Island lookout of the Cape Foulwind Walkway should reward you with the sight of these birds during their breeding season, from November to around May.
They are usually silent at sea; most calls are given by birds at night on the breeding colonies, though occasional calls are given by birds flying over breeding colonies at night. The main call is a loud, rhythmically repeated slightly hysterical coo-roo-ah generally made by duetting birds from within burrows or on the surface.
Here's a video of a noisy pair of 'sooties' at Cape Foulwind.
Little Penguins / Kororā
There are only a few blue penguins nesting at Cape Foulwind, despite the sound system mentioned above also being used to play calls to encourage them into this site. These sounds are played between June and August, as the breeding season gets underway.
In time, the Trust hopes to establish a small viewing opportunity, perhaps with a discrete nest cam.
Fairy Prions / Titī wainui
Fairy prions are beautiful small petrels, also known as dove prions as they are pale grey blue in colour. Only 25cm long, they are very vulnerable to prolonged stormy weather, often succumbing and being washed up on west coast beaches in vast numbers.
The Trust discovered that Wall Island, the rocky island some 250m off shore from the Cape Foulwind seal colony, has more seabirds than any other island between Cook Strait and Stewart Island. Every scrap of soil on this rocky outcrop has been used for a seabird burrow, predominantly fairy prions.
The island is currently predator free, and the Trust maintains the trap line on the nearby coast to ensure it remains that way. We also check the island every couple of years or so to ensure that prions are surviving. Any presence of predators would mean that the prion population would crash.
An annual count of blue penguin sign on West Coast beaches in October, but we'd love to hear from you anytime. It's a great opportunity to discover your beach and to be involved in a project!
This has been an annual event in spring, but we invite observations at any time of year, and hope to relaunch the annual count in 2025.
Are there penguins on your local beach? We’d love you to find out and let us know!
An early morning walk in the spring will help you rediscover the beauty of your local coastline, discover whether penguins are using the beach and help us build a clearer picture of where blue penguins are on the West Coast.
Choose a day when the tide will be low early in the morning to keep you safe and to offer the best chance of seeing penguin tracks crossing the freshly washed sand. Always pay special attention to tide times and conditions.
Here's a simple form you could use: 2022 blue penguin count form to print and take with you or take some paper and note the key observations.
And then share your results with us in one of the following ways:
ideally add your findings to our super simple Google Form, or
you can photograph or scan your form and email to us, or
add the details direct to an email, or
post the form to us c/o 231 Revell Street, Hokitika 7810.
Alternatively, and best of all, you can use the i-Naturalist using a smart phone, explained below.
The key thing to look for is fairly straight lines of footprints heading from the dunes to the sea early morning from those penguins that have left early. They will be foraging at sea all day and returning after dark to feed chicks at this time of year - we're keen to count the numbers who have headed out again before dawn. The three toes make an angle of less than 90 degrees, nearer 70 degrees, whereas many other seabirds have their toes spread wider than a right angle. They are also a little turned in, or 'pigeon toed'! (We can rename it penguin toed!)
What to look for: We have put together some information here: Penguin and other footprints.
And as an aside, if you like being a detective at the beach, have a look at this excellent footprint identification resource from NZ Tracker.
Please think safety before you venture out. Walking on our wonderful beaches soon after sunrise is often a magical experience but there are a few safety messages. Check the tides before you go and remember to watch out for the waves – never turn your back on them, and if you come across a seal, give them a wide berth of at least 20 metres if possible. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
Using i-Naturalist
To make it even more useful and accurate for us, penguin observations – probably mostly penguin tracks but perhaps a live penguin or penguin sounds – can be recorded using the i-Naturalist app on your smart phone or tablet, not only this week, when blue penguins are likely to be busy feeding chicks and the tides are just right, but any time that you come across them.
iNaturalist has been around for a few years, is ‘the online place for Kiwi nature watchers’, and you can add any nature observation at any time.
It may take a few minutes to install and familiarise yourself with it, but then it’s a piece of cake to add your records, including your photos if you wish.
At home, create a login and then find The Great Annual Blue Penguin Count under ‘Projects’, and join our project.
Link to the Little Blue Penguin / Kororā project in i-Naturalist.
Then, click on ‘Add Observations’ and start entering your record or records! You just zoom into the map and click on the location of the observation and add details, comments and photos following the prompts.
For your mobile devices, open the iNaturalist webpage, scroll to the bottom of the page and get the Android or i-phone app or find the iNaturalist app in your app store. Then the same applies – create a login if you haven’t already, find and join our project, and then record your observation. Enable GPS so that the app finds your location, then you can add a note, a photo if you wish and the few details for our project and move on to the next observation, perhaps more penguin tracks, as you walk along the beach.
HANDY TIP From previous experience, where there are lots of tracks, or even just a few, it’s simplest to open the app on your phone or tablet, ensure GPS is enabled, then record each observation as you see it, with or without a photo, then, back at home, open iNaturalist on your computer, go to “Your observations” and then click on the “Batch edit” button. You then tick all the observations you have just made and complete the fields for each in one go, e.g. penguin tracks or live penguin etc, rather than entering them as you go. Saves heaps of time and effort!
You can also look at our project and earlier annual penguin counts to see where others have recorded observations.
There is plenty of help in the iNaturalist help section, so give it a go – have a play and use it for penguin tracks for us, but also native birds, spiders, fungi, plants ...!
Don’t forget, iNaturalist is for all nature observations, so you can add other encounters, perhaps oystercatchers, dotterels, shags, seals, skinks, or a curious fungus or seashell any time! I added what I thought was a washed up small ray, and it was subsequently identified as a New Zealand Rough Skate. Have fun!
Lucy Waller finds penguin tracks, Sept 2016
The Trust had focused on establishing and addressing the land based threats to little penguins for several years and, in the last few years, has sought to understand the marine ecology.
Introduction
Tiny GPS units were applied to little / blue penguins during the 2015, 2016 and 2017 chick rearing seasons and the Trust collaborated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in a wider study to better understand the foraging patterns that were discovered.
A report was published in the NZ Journal of Zoology in April 2017, led by Tim Poupart and Dr Susan Waugh of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and included data from three sites, Wellington, Motuara Island (Marlborough) and our West Coast study. Data has been collected for five years and, for three of those years, the West Coast Penguin Trust carried out the field work at Charleston and Cape Foulwind. Altogether the study includes tracks gathered on 68 individuals in three regions of central New Zealand between 2011 and 2016.
Foraging patterns varied between sites and between years. Tracks revealed that penguins can rely on distant foraging areas while incubating, with nesting birds from Motuara Island travelling up to 214 km to feed. Isotope analyses of blood samples showed that this distant food from deep waters (0–200 m deep) is likely to be squid dominated, which has a low nutrition value. During the chick rearing period, birds undertook a diet shift to a higher trophic level while foraging closer to their colony, and possibly near river plumes.
These findings highlight the need to consider much larger potential foraging ranges when assessing and managing threats to the penguins. The research team, including the Trust’s Kerry-Jayne Wilson and Reuben Lane, advise that conservation efforts need to take this variation into account to protect these penguins, which are currently in decline across New Zealand.
Phase 2
The Trust continued the project in 2019 with the support of the New Zealand Penguin Initiative. The NZPI was able to supply GPS trackers that also measured dive depths and although only two tracks were obtained, the information was very interesting and useful. Read more here.
The study continued in 2020 with greater success and 11 tracks obtained illustrated below.
Example of the presentation of tracking data with depth, distance and trackingPhase 3
We had hoped to relaunch and extend our kororā foraging study during the 2022 season, with generous support from the Brian Mason Trust and the Environment & Heritage Lottery Fund. However, it quickly became apparent that the penguins were under stress, probably due to the marine heat wave*, and the call was made to cancel it for the season before it began to avoid further stressing the birds. Both grant funders kindly agreed to an extension so that the two year study could take place during the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the guidance of penguin scientist, Dr Thomas Mattern and new ranger Lucy Waller.
The site was moved to the Camerons beach colony for ease of access (closer to Ranger base in Hokitika, and penguin accessibility in nest boxes) and a pilot study undertaken there in September 2023.
Four birds were fitted with loggers from four different nest boxes. We had results from three of the loggers largely covering two trips per penguin. Recording of the second trips for two of the birds was not quite completed as the batteries failed. However, the six trip records gave us a first glance of the foraging journeys over three days made by those penguins. It showed they mostly stayed within 30km offshore to forage, which fits with our earlier studies from Charleston indicating that foraging remains approximately within the 110m bathymetric contour and an average range from home of 26kms.
Compared to a similar kororā tracking study that was conducted at the same time out of Port Taranaki, Camerons beach penguins travelled twice as far away from their nest sites to find food. This raises the question whether this is typical behaviour for the West Coast birds or a result of poor foraging conditions closer to the coast. Additional GPS tracking in 2024 at different stages of the breeding cycle will provide crucial insights.
More on the 2023 season study here.
We are very grateful to the Brian Mason Trust and the Lottery - Environment & Heritage Fund, for their support for this project this and next season.
Foraging tracks from the Camerons colony
We expect additional analysis of foraging areas in relation to other marine influences including currents, climate events and commercial fishing, to follow at some point, and for now, we'll be focusing on ensuring consistency of process to collect data annually and contribute to an understanding of the foraging activity of blue penguins on the West Coast through key stages of the annual life cycle, namely incubation, chick rearing, and post chick guard stages.
We’d like to thank the JS Watson Trust (managed by Forest & Bird) for their support, Te Papa for their collaboration, and Dr Thomas Mattern for generous help, guidance and expertise.
Marine heatwaves
* The impact of climate change and marine heatwaves with likely increasingly adverse effects on little penguins is a concern. There are two theories as to the adverse effects of a marine heat wave on penguins. One theory is possibly due to intensified stratification resulting in reduced mixing of surface and deeper water. Thus increases in turbidity after rain events take longer to dissipate because sediments are trapped at the surface. As a consequence, the penguins have to travel further away from the coast to reach cleaner water where they can see adequately to catch prey. Stratification can also disrupt the usual vertical nutrient flow potentially resulting in higher productivity and algal blooms at the surface, which may also inhibit visibility. Alternatively, the intensified stratification also means that colder water and thus colder water prey fish are out of dive reach. DOC's seabird specialist Graeme Taylor said in relation to hundreds of dead little penguins washing up on beaches in June 2022: "La Niña has combined with a marine heat wave to create a “double whammy” for the penguins, raising sea temperatures which in turn makes it more difficult for them to find the small fish they feed on, Taylor said. The fish may have moved south or descended to colder waters below the penguins’ diving range." Read that story here.
3000m of fencing to protect penguins and prevent them being killed on SH6 - The Coast Road. It's saving the lives of several penguins every year and mortality has reduced to zero in these areas.
Why build a penguin fence?
Where the Coast Road is close to the sea, penguins may choose to nest on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. Both parents will feed penguin chicks and they often go to sea to forage every day, leaving around dawn and returning after dark. These small birds don’t stand a chance against vehicles and large numbers of birds have been killed on some sections of the road. A fence on the sea side of the road was the obvious solution as it restricts the penguins to nesting habitat below the road, preventing them nesting and therefore crossing to the other side of the road.
Why build it here?
The West Coast Penguin Trust has been recording penguin mortality since its inception in 2006. A few sites along the Coast Road have been found to be hotspots for road kill. Three locations on the Coast Road (SH6) have claimed the lives of over 100 penguins in five years. They are the McCarthy Creek area, the south side of the Fox River Bridge, and Pahautane Beach to Hatters Bay. The annual penguin census, along with scientific studies, suggest that blue penguin numbers on the West Coast are continuing to decline.
In March 2012, the Trust and Conservation Volunteers erected a trial 100 metre long penguin fence south of Punakaiki, which proved very successful and the design was used for the new fences.
The Trust talked to OPUS, NZTA and DOC about building a $40,000 penguin protection fence along 2.6km of coastal highway, stretching from just north of Meybille Bay through to Limestone Creek since 2009.
On 22nd August 2014, the last gate in the new fence was officially closed by Buller Mayor, Garry Howard.
A year later, and ahead of the 2015 breeding season, the Trust completed another 300m of fencing along the coast highway near Seal Island, another location where road kills have been recorded. These fences have cut road kills in the area from 6-8 birds annually to zero.
We’re very grateful to the local teams from Fulton Hogan and WestReef, who, with annual support from the NZ Transport Agency, carry out weed spraying and maintenance. The former ensures that the vegetation does not become too abundant and heavy, which could damage the fence.
The fence is a deceptively simple black geosynthetic mesh that will prevent penguins straying on to the road. Driveway and beach access has been retained, and the Trust has installed spring-loaded gates.
A similar fence erected by the Friends of Lillico Penguins in Tasmania along a major highway, has been very successful in bringing down the numbers of penguins killed on the road and increasing the penguin population.
June 2020 Update
We published this news story confirming that many penguins have been prevented from being killed on the road by the penguin protection fence:
https://www.westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz/news/over-60-penguins-saved-statistics-show-that-fence-is-protecting-penguins/
June 2023 Update
With little penguins thriving on the sea side the West Coast Penguin Trust's penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki, penguins are starting to explore beyond the three colonies that were protected and finding their way past the ends of the fence through gaps. Sadly one penguin has been killed on the road and others have been rescued and returned to the sea side of the fence.
We're therefore thrilled to report that one of those gaps in the fence has just been filled, protecting penguins at the northern end of the main fence line just in time for the new breeding season.
Our thanks go to WestReef for getting the work done the minute they were able to including the traffic management and other safety measures, and to Waka Kotahi for both permission and support through an annual grant to help maintain the fence.
We would also like to thank Geofabrics New Zealand for the very generous discount on the special fence mesh. Geofabrics (then Maccaferri) helped us out in the same way when we first installed the penguin protection fence back in 2014. The mesh has stood up to the coastal assaults of sun and salt brilliantly, just as expected.
WestReef works photo of installation of penguin fenceJune 2024 Update
With lots of planning and discussion, a gap near the southern end of the main section of fence was filled in June 2024.
Read that news here.
Westreef team installing a new section of penguin protection fence, June 2024Hokitika Penguin Protection Fence
With a number of penguins exploring over paddocks or even rugby grounds, onto SH 6 and sadly being killed on the outskirts of Hokitika, Westland Milk Products wanted to help protect little penguins living in this area. They generously funded the construction of a new penguin protection in that area.
Read that story here.John Steele, fencer, and the new penguin protection fence near Houhou Creek, Hokitika, May 2021
How can you help?
The completed fence requires occasional maintenance and costs will be ongoing.
Your donation will help to keep the penguin protection fence working as designed and you can donate via our Donate page.
Also, if you're driving past the fence and notice any issues, perhaps a gate wedged open or some damage, please close the gate or let us know so that problems can be fixed immediately.
Thank you.
Our Awards
The Trust won both non-profit award and the new environment award in the Leading Light awards 2015. Click on the image for a video introducing the Trust.
Pension Insurance Corporation plc
The purpose of PIC is to pay the pensions of current and future policyholders. This focus delivers value for stakeholders.
Why the PIC penguins?
Emperor penguins have been central to PIC’s brand from the start. That’s because they’re memorable and intrinsically appealing, as well as striking to look at. Emperor penguins embody qualities that the PIC team works hard to emulate every day. They are:
Loyalty
They form lifelong partnerships, working together to protect and nurture their young and cooperating for the wellbeing of the group. Like them, our team invests time in building long-term relationships, showing ourselves to be dependable and dedicated.
Adaptability
Penguins have evolved to live successfully in water and on land, in many different climates. We too are adaptable, staying agile in a changing environment and evolving our business with innovative solutions to meet client needs.
Resilience
There are few animals on earth as tough as Emperor penguins, who withstand long Antarctic winters and endure months without food. PIC stays strong even in the harshest economic conditions and in the face of the most volatile markets.
The West Coast Penguin Trust is thrilled to share a love of penguins with PIC and to have received generous donations from them.
Since 1985 we have returned over $1 billion back to the community, supporting thousands of good causes all around New Zealand.
Our Values
INTEGRITY – Do the Right ThingCOMMUNITY – Stronger Together INNOVATION – Change for the BetterACHIEVEMENT – Strive for Success
A grant was made by the Lion Foundation in 2023 for the Trust's education ranger to deliver our education programme to West Coast schools.
The Brian Mason Scientific & Technical Trust was established in July 1991 to receive and allocate grants for the advancement of scientific and technical objectives in Canterbury and Westland
We are fortunate to have had a grant from this Trust to research and publish information about threats to Westland petrels - tāiko, the information proving invaluable in our advocacy work.
A second grant was awarded in 2022 for little penguin - kororā - foraging study taking place over 2023 and 2024 breeding seasons.
The Sargood Bequest is a charitable trust founded in 1939 by Sir Percy Sargood of the firm Sargood Son & Ewen. Sargood Bequest actively supports community groups and individuals within New Zealand.
The purpose of the fund is to make grants to projects and activities in the Children & Youth, Cultural, Sports & Outdoors, Educational and Environmental categories with a focus on Access, Participation and Inspiration. The majority of grants made by Sargood Bequest are under $5000. The Trustees favour projects to which funds are specifically targeted. From time to time the trust also makes larger grants or pledges over a number of years at the discretion of the trustees.
The Trust has been fortunate to have been awarded grants principally for our Education work, but also for the Community Conservation Symposium.
Westland Dairy Company - formerly Westland Milk Products, based in Hokitika.
Westland. A place, a people, a brand and a spirit.
It is this naturally determined, adaptive spirit that enables our customers to find their edge, to nourish life through our products we have made beautifully for generations.
Westland Dairy Company have supported the Trust to print wildlife awareness signs for beach access points across the region and have been at pains to ensure penguins are protected at and around the pipeline drilling project site on the north edge of Hokitika. Following that project, they remained committed to protecting penguins and have installed a penguin protection fence in the area to prevent penguins being killed on the state highway. They have also generously assisted with the cutting of access ramps for penguins when erosion results in barriers between nest and sea.
The Trust's relationship with Westland continues to grow and their support is hugely valued and valuable.
https://www.westland.co.nz/en/company/purpose-and-values/
Wellington Zoo is New Zealand’s first Zoo and Wellington’s oldest conservation organisation, caring for animals since 1906. The Zoo is a not for profit charitable trust, and has been that way since 2003. The Trust runs the Zoo on behalf of Wellington City Council.
They are proud to be the world’s first carboNZero certified zoo and they became the first zoo to win the Environmental Sustainability Award at the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
The zoo follows the WAZA commitments to excellence in animal welfare and conservation.
They are also part of the Zoo and Aquarium Association - a regional organisation for zoos in the Australasian region. ZAA manages the coordination of breeding programmes and sets the level of professional standards and practice for members. They are proud to have been accredited under their Animal Welfare standards.
The West Coast Penguin Trust is hugely proud to be a Conservation Partner, sharing an interest in improving the conservation management of Fiordland crested penguins and sharing information and resources that contribute to penguin conservation generally.
Lottery Environment and Heritage provides grants for plans, reports and one-off projects that will protect, conserve and promote New Zealand’s natural, cultural and physical heritage.
The Trust has received grants for three major projects, namely developing an education resource (2015), presenting the Community Conservation Symposium (2018) and the little penguin - kororā - foraging study 2023-2024.
"A great journey is easy, safe and connected. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is focused on providing one integrated land transport system that helps people get the most out of life and supports business.
"We look after the national transport system with our partners, today and for the future. We’re innovating to make sure the system is efficient and sustainable, unlocking opportunity and keeping New Zealand moving.
"We’re working to deliver our customer promise – great journeys to keep New Zealand moving."
Waka Kotahi NZTA recognised the risk posed to drivers on the Coast Road (state highway 6) at night, where penguins on the road could cause drivers to swerve off the road. Their focus on safety fitted with the Trust's aim to protect penguins and keep them off the road and the Trust was hugely grateful for the agency's support managing the safety of the fence construction project. Waka kotahi NZTA continue to support the penguin protection fence through an annual amount allocated to fence maintenance and extension, and used for this purpose by Westport based road contractor, WestReef, also very supportive of this project.
The Department of Conservation has been the main sponsor of the Trust since its inception and continues to support our work with advice, collaboration and encouragement.
We're very fortunate to work with such a passionate group of people throughout the West Coast region.
The West Coast Community Trust manages its investments and apply income by way of grants for charitable, cultural, philanthropic, recreational and other purposes in Buller, Grey and Westland.
The Trust has been fortunate to receive grants for its education and its awareness programmes.
We know next to nothing about tawaki’s marine ecology, their foraging ranges, which prey species they consume and at which water depths they forage. Critical information is missing to assess how human activities might impact on tawaki, be it ongoing climate change, fisheries activities or pollution of the marine habitat with mining effluents or oil-leaks.
This project will address the key aspects of tawaki’s marine ecology throughout the range from South Westland to Stewart Island.
We will:
examine their foraging strategies across the different marine environments they inhabit
study the spatial distribution of their diving activities to determine whether there are specific hot spots at sea
investigate which marine and terrestrial aspects affect the species’ population dynamics
We also collaborate with the West Coast Penguin Trust to further knowledge and conservation management for tawaki through our collaboration as The Tawaki Coalition.
Enviroschools is a nationwide programme supported by Toimata Foundation, founding partner Te Mauri Tau, and a large network of regional partners. Early childhood centres and schools commit to a long-term sustainability journey, where tamariki/students connect with and explore the environment, then plan, design and take action in their local places in collaboration with their communities.
We are fortunate to be able to use key structures from the Enviroschools programme in our education programme and we join forces with Enviroschools - coordinators and schools - where we can for even greater environmental education outcomes.
The Trust has also worked with Enviroschools for the West Coast to establish a network of environmental educators in the region.
The Trust has developed a penguin and seabird education resource aligned to the NZ Curriculum especially for the West Coast but it will be of value for educators and children everywhere, particularly coastal areas of New Zealand, and whether at school, home or youth group. The resource has recently been updated and improved and you can down load it and/or request a hard copy (scroll down for details.)
“Blue Penguins & Other Seabirds. Activities for exploration and action for schools and community groups” is aimed at children in the age range 5 to 9 but can be adapted for younger or older children. The goal is for local people to learn about and take action for the wildlife in their own back yard. Research has also shown that children gain essential values for the environment and a lifelong connectedness to nature in this age group.
Fun learning activities are included within the education resource, including games and arts and crafts. With all the resources on line, they are readily available to home school parents and students and indeed anyone with an interest in sharing a love for and interest in the coastal environment with children.
The project focuses on blue penguins but includes sooty shearwaters (both species are in Gradual Decline, 2005 NZ Threat Classification System), Fiordland Crested Penguins or Tawaki (Nationally Endangered) and Westland Petrels (Range Restricted), all in their natural habitat. The coastal habitat of these species on the West Coast has, as it has around NZ, been modified or disturbed by humans and their activities.
We welcome any feedback on the resource and we would also love to receive photographs and stories as you have a go at the various activities. Please send them to us at info@westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz.
The Fiordland crested penguin, or tawaki, is in need of our help, being listed as Nationally Vulnerable and one of the least studied and rarest penguins.
Tawaki is the only crested penguin to inhabit the main islands and coasts of New Zealand. The 2012 IUCN red list classifies them as Vulnerable.
The West Coast Penguin Trust ensures that conservation management is based on good science.
Introduction
The Trust has set out to establish which predators may be contributing to a decline in the population so that appropriate targeted action can be taken. This follows a technical review of the conservation status of both the species and earlier management actions and a priority action was to determine the effects of introduced predators on the breeding success of tawaki.
A funding bid for a pre-predator control project to the Department of Conservation in 2014 was successful and motion activated cameras were purchased with sponsorship from local businessman, Geoff Robson of Greenstone Helicopters.
Cameras are a low impact method of obtaining the information and these were installed at two colonies at Jackson Head and Gorge River in South Westland, in late August for the four breeding seasons 2014-2017.
This work will ensure that any predator control targets the appropriate species in the most effective way, thus saving money and contributing to the conservation of the species in the longer term.
Four-year study
Our study coincided with a five-year study into the ecology and particularly the foraging ecology of tawaki by Dr Thomas Mattern and The Tawaki Project. We were able to share both resources and findings and the projects complemented each other extremely well at the Jackson Head site.
In the second year of the study, 2015, El Niño conditions off the West Coast resulted in almost complete nest failure at Jackson Head as chicks starved and adults swam up to 100km for little food and poor nutrition.
In the third year, 2016, stoats, which had been scarce, appeared in large number at the Jackson Head site and both eggs and chicks were lost to predation.
A fourth year in 2017 found breeding back to 'normal' levels, without El Niño conditions and with barely any stoats visible on camera footage.
Link to study report after 2017 season
With two abnormal years in the four-year study, but it appears that the large numbers of stoats and the loss of chicks was a direct result of an earlier beech seed mast event close by. These events, when trees produce massive amounts of seed every 2- 6 years, result in explosions in mice and rat populations, followed by stoats. As the food source for stoats runs out - as the seeds rot and germinate and rodent numbers reduce - stoats are likely to spread out in search of food. We believe they spread to Jackson Head in 2016.
The report at the end of the fourth year is here: WCPT Tawaki report 2018 Final
Shift of focus from predators to breeding success while assessing presence of stoats
Stoats are clearly the main land-based predator of and threat to tawaki in South Westland although only in some years when stoat numbers are in plague proportions, apparently or likely linked to mast events.
The Trust has shared its findings with the Department of Conservation and is recommending that landscape predator control operations be managed to take tawaki into account. They have traditionally been focused on species such as kaka and mohua, and ensuring tawaki nesting areas are included is a tiny step to take as treatment areas are already including or could include such colonies.
In order to gain a better understanding of the situation, the Trust started an annual breeding success survey of nests in the three areas of our study in the 2019 season and, in addition for the 2020 season, carried out trail camera and tracking tunnel monitoring (overview here).
A variety of both research and management priorities have been identified for tawaki and the West Coast Penguin Trust is involved in progressing those priorities for the benefit of the species, working with both the NZ Penguin Initiative and The Tawaki Project. Have a look at The Tawaki Project site for up to date blogs and news of their project, now focused in Milford Sound and check out http://pengu.cam/ for some extraordinary video footage, recorded under water from the back of a penguin.
In 2019, the Trust focussed on two colonies while the NZ Penguin Initiative did some intensive monitoring at Jackson Head. Read their report in the NZ_Penguin_initiative_ReportQ1_2020.pdf where they expected an invasion by stoats following the major mast event in summer 2018/19, but which did not eventuate.
A 2021 tawaki season report - WCPT has been summarised by Trust Ranger, Linden Brown.
Find a report on the 2022 tawaki season here.
A review of all three seasons monitored for breeding success and stoat presence (2019- 2021) to date can be found here. The summary is as follows:
Stoat traplines were established around three colonies, while two others were left un-trapped, and then nests were monitored for breeding success. After five years, it was clear that the breeding success was not improved by stoat trapping and just a couple of incidents of predation by a stoat were recorded.
At the same time, working with the Department of Conservation, a blue penguin mortality database was established. This showed that the vast majority of dead blue penguins reported to the Trust or to DOC, around 60-70% depending on location, were being killed on roads close to the coast. The second largest killer of penguins on land was dogs.
This was compelling evidence to focus our efforts on preventing penguins being killed on the roads and by dogs. Read more about the penguin protection fence project here.
Ensuring that penguins are safe from dogs is an on-going challenge, one that the Trust has attempted to address in a variety of ways, and work is continuing in collaboration with the Department of Conservation and the three District Councils.
In the meantime, monitoring of penguin colonies was expanded to include other sites in the Buller area and we now maintain the monitoring of two colonies on a fortnightly basis throughout the breeding season and twice yearly for the other colonies. Long term data is invaluable for improved understanding of the species and could alert us to major issues.
These large black birds are consummate seabirds, flying up to 2000 km from home on foraging trips and have been recorded diving more than 60 m. They return to their nests around dusk, so simply standing on the Wall Island lookout of the Cape Foulwind Walkway should reward you with the sight of these birds during their breeding season, from November to around May.
They are usually silent at sea; most calls are given by birds at night on the breeding colonies, though occasional calls are given by birds flying over breeding colonies at night. The main call is a loud, rhythmically repeated slightly hysterical coo-roo-ah generally made by duetting birds from within burrows or on the surface.
Here's a video of a noisy pair of 'sooties' at Cape Foulwind.
Fairy prions are beautiful small petrels, also known as dove prions as they are pale grey blue in colour. Only 25cm long, they are very vulnerable to prolonged stormy weather, often succumbing and being washed up on west coast beaches in vast numbers.
The Trust discovered that Wall Island, the rocky island some 250m off shore from the Cape Foulwind seal colony, has more seabirds than any other island between Cook Strait and Stewart Island. Every scrap of soil on this rocky outcrop has been used for a seabird burrow, predominantly fairy prions.
The island is currently predator free, and the Trust maintains the trap line on the nearby coast to ensure it remains that way. We also check the island every couple of years or so to ensure that prions are surviving. Any presence of predators would mean that the prion population would crash.
This has been an annual event in spring, but we invite observations at any time of year, and hope to relaunch the annual count in 2025.
Are there penguins on your local beach? We’d love you to find out and let us know!
An early morning walk in the spring will help you rediscover the beauty of your local coastline, discover whether penguins are using the beach and help us build a clearer picture of where blue penguins are on the West Coast.
Choose a day when the tide will be low early in the morning to keep you safe and to offer the best chance of seeing penguin tracks crossing the freshly washed sand. Always pay special attention to tide times and conditions.
The key thing to look for is fairly straight lines of footprints heading from the dunes to the sea early morning from those penguins that have left early. They will be foraging at sea all day and returning after dark to feed chicks at this time of year - we're keen to count the numbers who have headed out again before dawn. The three toes make an angle of less than 90 degrees, nearer 70 degrees, whereas many other seabirds have their toes spread wider than a right angle. They are also a little turned in, or 'pigeon toed'! (We can rename it penguin toed!)
What to look for: We have put together some information here: Penguin and other footprints.
And as an aside, if you like being a detective at the beach, have a look at this excellent footprint identification resource from NZ Tracker.
Please think safety before you venture out. Walking on our wonderful beaches soon after sunrise is often a magical experience but there are a few safety messages. Check the tides before you go and remember to watch out for the waves – never turn your back on them, and if you come across a seal, give them a wide berth of at least 20 metres if possible. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
Then, click on ‘Add Observations’ and start entering your record or records! You just zoom into the map and click on the location of the observation and add details, comments and photos following the prompts.
For your mobile devices, open the iNaturalist webpage, scroll to the bottom of the page and get the Android or i-phone app or find the iNaturalist app in your app store. Then the same applies – create a login if you haven’t already, find and join our project, and then record your observation. Enable GPS so that the app finds your location, then you can add a note, a photo if you wish and the few details for our project and move on to the next observation, perhaps more penguin tracks, as you walk along the beach.
HANDY TIP From previous experience, where there are lots of tracks, or even just a few, it’s simplest to open the app on your phone or tablet, ensure GPS is enabled, then record each observation as you see it, with or without a photo, then, back at home, open iNaturalist on your computer, go to “Your observations” and then click on the “Batch edit” button. You then tick all the observations you have just made and complete the fields for each in one go, e.g. penguin tracks or live penguin etc, rather than entering them as you go. Saves heaps of time and effort!
You can also look at our project and earlier annual penguin counts to see where others have recorded observations.
There is plenty of help in the iNaturalist help section, so give it a go – have a play and use it for penguin tracks for us, but also native birds, spiders, fungi, plants ...!
Don’t forget, iNaturalist is for all nature observations, so you can add other encounters, perhaps oystercatchers, dotterels, shags, seals, skinks, or a curious fungus or seashell any time! I added what I thought was a washed up small ray, and it was subsequently identified as a New Zealand Rough Skate. Have fun!
On 22nd August 2014, the last gate in the new fence was officially closed by Buller Mayor, Garry Howard.
A year later, and ahead of the 2015 breeding season, the Trust completed another 300m of fencing along the coast highway near Seal Island, another location where road kills have been recorded. These fences have cut road kills in the area from 6-8 birds annually to zero.
We’re very grateful to the local teams from Fulton Hogan and WestReef, who, with annual support from the NZ Transport Agency, carry out weed spraying and maintenance. The former ensures that the vegetation does not become too abundant and heavy, which could damage the fence.
The fence is a deceptively simple black geosynthetic mesh that will prevent penguins straying on to the road. Driveway and beach access has been retained, and the Trust has installed spring-loaded gates.
A similar fence erected by the Friends of Lillico Penguins in Tasmania along a major highway, has been very successful in bringing down the numbers of penguins killed on the road and increasing the penguin population.
June 2020 Update
We published this news story confirming that many penguins have been prevented from being killed on the road by the penguin protection fence:
https://www.westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz/news/over-60-penguins-saved-statistics-show-that-fence-is-protecting-penguins/
June 2023 Update
With little penguins thriving on the sea side the West Coast Penguin Trust's penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki, penguins are starting to explore beyond the three colonies that were protected and finding their way past the ends of the fence through gaps. Sadly one penguin has been killed on the road and others have been rescued and returned to the sea side of the fence.
We're therefore thrilled to report that one of those gaps in the fence has just been filled, protecting penguins at the northern end of the main fence line just in time for the new breeding season.
Our thanks go to WestReef for getting the work done the minute they were able to including the traffic management and other safety measures, and to Waka Kotahi for both permission and support through an annual grant to help maintain the fence.
We would also like to thank Geofabrics New Zealand for the very generous discount on the special fence mesh. Geofabrics (then Maccaferri) helped us out in the same way when we first installed the penguin protection fence back in 2014. The mesh has stood up to the coastal assaults of sun and salt brilliantly, just as expected.
