News

DOC West Coast ran a photo competition to celebrate Seaweek and our wonderful wildlife recently. Hokitika Primary schoolgirl, Elise Caldwell, won the penguin pack prize for her mother and baby seal photo.

The national Seaweek campaign is led by the Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre in March each year and is a campaign that is especially important to the Department of Conservation on the West Coast with our taonga species and Marine Reserves. This year's theme was ‘celebrating sea creatures of Aotearoa’.  DOC held a West Coast regional photo competition again, with some great prizes from very generous local organisations - including the West Coast Penguin Trust who provided a penguin themed prize pack.  There was also a prize for the most proactive school (two nights at Ōkārito School House). Along with other contributors, the Trust helped to judge the photos entered from Coasters as young as 4 or 5. The winner of our penguin prize pack was Elise Caldwell of Hokitika, who said:

"I celebrate Seaweek by observing lots of sea creatures at Tauranga Bay seal colony.  I loved watching this mummy and baby seal snoozing and snuggling together."

Congratulations Elise! All the Seaweek 2024 photo competition winners can be found here.

Nicky and Peng are on a fabulous adventure, a four year contract in the Falkland Islands where there are penguins ... lots and lots and lots of penguins!

Nicky and Peng are on a fabulous adventure, a four year contract in the Falkland Islands where there are penguins ... lots and lots and lots of penguins! Nicky Armstrong and her pal, a large cuddly penguin called Peng, have been Supporters of the work of the West Coast Penguin Trust for many years.  Nicky's passion for penguins extends to several other large soft toy penguins and in fact a penguin themed home! So, as a lawyer drafting Government Bills and other legislation in Wellington, when the opportunity arose to work in the Falkland Islands, she not only jumped at the chance, but took Peng along for the adventure too. She told me: "there are penguins - lots and lots and lots of penguins!!  The plan is to go around and meet every one of them in person.  We've met quite a few."

  And here's the latest from Nicky:

We’ve got to the end of our first penguin season. It’s been very penguinny!!

The Magellanics and Rockhoppers have moulted and gone off on their winter holidays. They should be back in about September/October.  The Gentoos are here all year although without chicks to feed they can go off to feed for longer periods so they are not all on shore at the same time.

The Kings are also here all year round although the biggest colony – at Volunteer Point – is out of bounds for the winter because the farm track to get there is closed because it gets very boggy.  This autumn has been unusually wet so the farmer closed the track at the end of April.  Fortunately, a week after my visit.

 

Having a good camera and very photogenic subjects, makes it relatively easy to take good photos – but it does result in a ridiculous number of photos.  As I sort them out, I'm sharing them on my Flickr page.

 

The bird flu reached here this summer but fortunately not widespread.  There were isolated birds found in various places but mostly they were birds that don’t normally come ashore here, and it was thought they probably got blown off course because they were ill.   One of the outer islands had an outbreak that affected some of the penguins, and there was an outbreak at one of the albatross colonies.  But not the kind of mass deaths that have happened in some places.

A lot of the birds have now left for their winter holidays.  Some of the marine mammals (who can also get bird flu) – like the elephant seals and sea lions, also go off for the winter.  So, for now there is less concern about the flu.  But there is considerable concern about next season – all the wildlife will be coming back, some might bring the flu back with them, and others will be coming back still with no immunity.   We will just have to wait and see.

As we have mentioned occasionally, this latest strain of avian influenza is a massive concern for seabird and marine mammal conservationists around the world.  In our recent news story, we note that, while unlikely to reach New Zealand, it remains a possibility and we - all of us who visit coastal areas and beaches - must be vigilant and prepared.  Read more here. Back to the fabulous photos of penguins.  Nicky has kindly allowed me to share her Flickr page here.  It's a public page, but you probably wouldn't have found it otherwise and it is well worth sharing with outstanding photographs of not only penguins but other wildlife, landscapes and much more - and if you look carefully, you might see Peng, especially in his yellow/orange Argyle fleecy top!  Enjoy! (Featured image at the top - King penguins at Volunteer Point by Nicky)

 

 

Hundreds of millions of dollars are returned annually to the community from the proceeds of gambling on electronic gaming machines, or pokies, in pubs and hotels. The not-for-profit process supports charities in all walks of life, including environmental projects.

We are delighted to have been supported recently by two pokie machine corporate societies. Pub Charity, a supporter for various projects in the past including the development and publication of our Educational Resource, has approved our application for funding to purchase microchips for penguins.  These are known as PIT tags or Passive Integrated Transponders, which have internal microchips. For little penguins, the PIT tags are about the same size as a grain of rice and are inserted under the skin at the back of their neck. Microchipping penguins will enable us to do more scientific research and learn more about little penguins/kororā on the West Coast.  We already monitor breeding success and we study where penguins go to feed at sea and this information about individual penguins will enable us to better understand our other findings and learn much more about these penguins.  Our research will inform our practical projects to conserve little penguins as well as our awareness and education programmes.  Related news story here about learning to insert microchips into kororā. Our huge thanks to Pub Charity! A few months ago, we also heard that we had been successful in an application to The Lion Foundation.  We applied for a grant to support the work of our Education Ranger, Lucy Waller, to work with schools in the Greymouth and Hokitika areas.  The grant will support visits to classrooms as well as field trips to the beach, helping teachers use our Blue Penguins & Other Seabirds: Activities for exploration and action for schools and community groups resource and helping children find out all about little penguins / kororā in their area. So our huge thanks to The Lion Foundation too!   With DOC under extreme financial pressure and their community funding drying up for groups and projects such as ours, gaining this support for our work makes a huge difference to what we can do. Hundreds of millions of dollars are returned annually to the community from the proceeds of gambling on electronic gaming machines, or pokies, in pubs and hotels. The not-for-profit process supports charities in all walks of life, including environmental projects such as ours. Information about safer gambling can be found here: https://www.safergambling.org.nz/  

New Zealand Photography Workshops started out in 2013 and now offer unique tours and workshops across the country. Following a recent workshop in South Westland, they wanted to support the Trust's conservation work and made a generous donation.

New Zealand Photography Workshops started out in 2013 and now offer unique tours and workshops across the country.  Their principles are based on not only showcasing New Zealand at its very best but demonstrating to everyone who visits these beautiful places or takes photographs of our indigenous wildlife how special they are and why they need our help to protect and preserve them.  Their very talented tutors and guides highlight efforts being made to conserve them for future generations for those on the workshops and tours, and, as a business, they collaborate with others who share their values and standards, including Qual Mark Gold. Craig Potton MNZM, West Coast Penguin Trust's Patron and one of New Zealand's elite photographers and conservationists, is one of the tutors, including for a recent workshop in South Westland. NZ Photography Workshops founder, Richard Young, ran the workshop with Craig at the Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge, where owner and another of New Zealand's leading conservationists as well as penguin fan and long-standing supporter of the trust, Dr Gerry McSweeney CNZM, also contributed to the workshop.

With Craig and Gerry’s involvement in the workshop, Richard wanted to have an especially good conservation outcome for conservation and was able to make a generous donation to the Trust in support of all the work we do. Our huge thanks to Richard for his generosity and for sharing our special places and wildlife so thoughtfully, always applying his commitment to sustainability and conservation outcomes. Find out more about NZ Photography Workshops here.

Working with seabirds as we do, it is important for the Trust to be prepared and to play our part in minimising any risk of spreading avian influenza, should it arrive in New Zealand. 

You may have read reports from around the world about a new and very concerning strain of the avian flu virus since 2020, starting in Europe, spreading across the USA, then to South America and then Antarctica, Africa and Asia.  Working with seabirds as we do and while acknowledging that the risk of it arriving in New Zealand is low, it is important for the Trust to be prepared and to play our part in minimising any risk of spreading avian influenza, should it arrive here. One thing we can do is share information with you.   First a bit of background. Avian influenza was first described way back in 1878 when a contagious disease of poultry was described in northern Italy.  In 1955, it was found to be a type A influenza virus and from 1981, it has been known as highly pathogenic avian influenza or HPAI.  Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses cause severe disease and can cause high mortality in infected birds, especially in poultry.  Ducks can be infected without signs of illness.  Some HPAI virus infections in poultry can spill back into wild birds, resulting in significant geographic spread of the virus as those birds migrate.  Again, some wild birds can be infected without appearing sick but others through some virus subtypes can suffer severe disease and mortality.  The US Centers for Disease Control has this information about bird flu if you would like more details. Wild aquatic birds, including gulls, terns, and shorebirds, and wild waterfowl, such as ducks, geese and swans are considered reservoirs or hosts for avian influenza A viruses. Avian influenza is mainly spread by close contact between infected birds and healthy birds.  It can also be transmitted when birds come in contact with environments, equipment or materials (including water and feed) that have been contaminated with faeces or secretions from the nostrils or beak of infected birds.  If you have travelled overseas in the past two or three years, you may have seen warning signs such as that below from Cornwall, England.

This highly contagious viral infection can affect all species of birds both wild and domestic.  Cases have also been seen in mammals associated with bird mortality events including seals and sea lions.  What sets the most recent strain apart is the rapidity with which it spreads and the severity of the disease it causes among wild birds and mammals. Avian influenza A viruses rarely infect people.  However, you may also have read about a human case of the current avian influenza A(H5N1) reported in Victoria, Australia recently.  The case was in a child who had returned to Australia from overseas in March.  There was a severe infection but the child has made a full recovery and there is no evidence of transmission in Victoria.  The chance of additional human cases is very low as avian influenza does not easily spread between people.   Current situation in New Zealand Biosecurity New Zealand, a branch of the Ministry for Primary Industries, is responsible for assessing the risk, ensuring preparedness, and investigating and responding to any new pests and diseases arriving in New Zealand. Biosecurity NZ have assessed the risk of HPAI arriving in New Zealand as low, being isolated from other land masses and does not have waterfowl (swans, geese, ducks and sometimes coots and grebes) migratory pathways, and New Zealand has never had a case of HPAI. The DOC website has the following and much more information:

A variety of migratory shorebirds do return here and could bring avian influenza. The most numerous shorebirds are the bar-tailed godwit, red knot, ruddy turnstone and Pacific golden plover. The bar-tailed godwit flies directly from Alaska to New Zealand without stopovers.

Other species may visit estuaries along the Asian coastline, the Philippines and Australia on their annual migrations south from arctic Russia.

Seabirds such as Arctic and pomarine skuas arrive every spring and summer from the Arctic region. Arctic tern, little terns and common terns are also regular annual visitors to New Zealand, and many species of pelagic seabirds breed here after spending winter feeding in the Pacific and Southern Oceans.

DOC is working closely with Biosecurity NZ to ensure they are prepared to manage the effects on native species should the virus arrive.  They believe that HPAI could "affect colony nesting birds such as red and black-billed gulls, gannets, terns and other seabirds", presumably including penguins, petrels, shearwaters, shags and prions, all found in colonies on the West Coast mainland or offshore islands.  

What to look for and how to report possible cases of HPAI Early detection is critical.  Signs of HPAI vary but indicators include: sudden death, tremors, weakness, paralysis, difficulty breathing and diarrhoea. Do not touch or attempt to move any dead or dying wildlife. Report groups of three or more sick or dying birds, marine mammals or other wildlife to the Biosecurity New Zealand Exotic Pest and Disease hotline: 0800 80 99 66. Biosecurity New Zealand will take details and an incursion investigator will be in contact with you. Provide as much detail as you can, including:

Record a GPS reading or other precise location information.

Take photographs and/or videos of sick and dead birds.

Identify the species and estimate the numbers affected.

Note how many sick or freshly dead are present as well as total number present.

Follow Biosecurity New Zealand instructions for handling of sick or dead birds.

  Other information New Zealand's main approach will be supporting strong, healthy populations of native wildlife at multiple locations as well as strong biosecurity and quarantine practices.  Vaccination may be a way to protect some core breeding populations and DOC is trailing a new vaccine that has been shown to be safe and effective in zoos in Europe.  Find out more about the trial here. The spread of the virus is overlapping with environmental changes due to climate change, and the latter could increase the problem of the former.  In Chile, for example, the El Niño weather phenomenon had a strong impact last year on fish that birds rely on for food, placing more stress on animals and likely making them more susceptible to the virus. For now, we must all have a watching brief, and be absolutely prepared.    The Trust is reviewing hygiene and other field protocols to ensure that we could not pick up or transmit the virus should we encounter it and has been acutely aware of the risk for some time, sharing this story in December 2022.  DOC is developing regional plans to be as prepared as they can be. You can help by sharing this information with friends and family who walk our beaches.  Thank you.

Enviroschools West Coast invited the West Coast Penguin Trust to join and present to a recent community partnerships hui for teachers.

Enviroschools West Coast invited the West Coast Penguin Trust to join and present to a recent community partnerships hui for teachers. The hui focussed on building strong community collaborations and partnerships. It was held at Kaniere School and nearly 30 teachers from across Grey and Westland districts attended along with our Manager, Inger Perkins, and representatives from Kai Puku Food Hub, Kiwi Conservation Club, the Paparoa Wildlife Trust, Conservation Volunteers NZ, the Department of Conservation, West Coast Regional Council, and Grey District Council.

Feedback included: “This has been very valuable for our centre moving forward and inspiring us. Making connections has been great.”

Organiser and Enviroschools facilitator, Laura Neale said: "It was exciting to see everyone getting to know each other. From little things big things grow – we look forward to these conversations blossoming into rich learning opportunities for tamariki and collaborations that contribute to a more understanding, connected, and sustainable community."

Bringing community groups to schools and connecting them in this way was an excellent initiative.  The Trust has many connections to schools and to others involved in conservation across the region and it was a wonderful opportunity to connect with them and meet new teachers and new organisations with shared values including the new waste minimisation officer at Grey District Council and Kai Puku Food Hub, preventing usable food ending in landfill and instead sharing it where it is needed.

Penguins saved from digger as coastal vegetation cleared

Recent storms coinciding with big seas and high tides led to erosion of the beach and temporary rock protection at Hokitika earlier this month. West Coast Regional Council Chair and Westland District Council Mayor approved emergency works on Friday 12th April.  Although staff did think penguins, they failed to speak to either the West Coast Penguin Trust or DOC and a digger was sent in with a plan to create a road for the earth/rock moving vehicles behind the erosion face. That meant coastal vegetation needed to be cleared. That should have sent alarm bells ringing for everyone involved.  Coastal vegetation is habitat for a variety of species and, in this area, that includes little penguins or kororā. Inexplicably, the decision had been made to access the rocks from the top of the erosion bank rather than, as they did before, make a ramp down to the beach and carry out repairs and rock placement from below, with no impact on vegetation.

Fortunately, Hokitika Guardian reporter, Janna Sherman, rang Trust Manager Inger Perkins the next day, and Ms Perkins was able to go straight to the site with a map of penguin nesting sites in hand. A quick chat to the Henry Adams team project leader making clear that there must be no more vegetation clearance gained immediate understanding and acceptance, quickly supported by WCRC Chair, Peter Haddock in a phone call. The Trust's map showed a nest just metres further north of the digger, so it was stopped just in time.  It may be that the penguins were not at home, but they could well have been hunkering down there after the big storm. There were a few challenges at the time including the serious rain warning event for Westland with an Emergency Operations Centre operating for at least three days prior and then senior staff being at AgFest, a two day event in Greymouth on Friday and Saturday. Natural resources engineer, Kent Jacobsen, came down from WCRC within about half an hour and quickly reviewed the situation and agreed alternative approaches with Ms Perkins to ensure no further vegetation clearance as well as ensuring penguins would have safe access over the rocks before the repair team left the site that day. In a letter to the editor in response to a statement from WCRC published in the local paper, Trust Manager thanked Ms Sherman for the alert and Messrs Haddock and Jacobsen for their swift and positive responses. She added: "I have shared nest site locations as well as locations where dead penguins have been found with both WCRC and Westland DC staff, a protocol has been provided for any coastal rock protection works, all district councils contributed to beach access signs to alert people to the possible presence of penguins, and I have made numerous submissions relating to coastal works or development. "It is therefore extremely disappointing that the work could have started before a discussion could be had with the West Coast Penguin Trust or DOC.  It is extremely disappointing that the option to clear vegetation to create a road to manage repairs to the rock protection from above was chosen rather than the previous approach of creating a ramp and working from the beach.  That option was subsequently agreed and implemented.  There was no need to clear any vegetation. "I am sure that none of those involved – contractor, councillors and staff – would want dead penguins on their conscience or reputation. "Please, for any works in coastal areas – contractors, councils, developers, even kiwi rail – think penguins, think wildlife, think nature.  Disturbing, damaging or clearing coastal vegetation must be a last resort and not undertaken without a thorough assessment of environmental effects.  It may not only provide homes for penguins but also for other protected wildlife such as weka and skinks, it provides amenity and shelter and can help hold sand in place."   Read original news here (Hokitika Guardian) Read follow up news story here (originally in the Grey Star, here from the ODT)  

Remix Plastic, created by Anthea Ibell in Christchurch, has a vision to foster sustainable behaviour and a circular economy. "This vision gives us the focus to carry out our mission of providing education that encourages and empowers individuals to make sustainable changes." A finalist in the 2020 Sustainable Business Awards, Anthea creates beautiful jewellery made from plastic waste diverted from landfill.  Each piece carries a sustainability story. Already supporting Forest & Bird with bird of the century, Puteketeke, earrings and Our Seas Our Future with white feather earrings inspired by the rare black-billed gull, Anthea reached out to the West Coast Penguin Trust. Her little blue penguin / kororā earrings are made from recycled ice cream container lids and are striking in their wonderful blue and white.  $2 from the sale of each pair will be donated to support our penguin conservation projects.  Importantly for many, earring hooks are hypoallergenic stainless steel and all items are shipped plastic free.  Find out more and purchase kororā earrings here and the Remix Plastic website with other wonderful creations is here. Anthea has also created a podcast about sustainability and a circular economy - find episodes here. The three key principles are:

1. Design out waste and pollution
2. Keep products and materials in use
3. Regenerate natural systems

Congratulations and thank you Anthea!

Conservation class at Westland High School saving local penguins

A big thank you to Peter Brailsford's conservation class at Westland High School for the new nest boxes and time spent designing and engineering penguin ramps to help solve the access problem last season at Hokitika Beach for our penguins. We saw a 10 foot wall erosion issue, even bigger than in previous years, and although up to 50 tracks were often counted going to and from the sea each morning, many were seen walking hundreds of metres along the foot of the erosion cliff trying to find an access point up into the dunes and their nests. Many hours have spent by local people, the Trust team and Westland Milk Factory volunteers digging ramps for access, but it was a very time consuming and difficult challenge. The debate is whether the penguins in this local area are used to the erosion issue by now and so will adapt and go elsewhere to breed or to just walk the long distances to get to their nests each day, in which case ramps may not be needed, or whether we will lose these penguins from this area or breeding may be disrupted, perhaps eggs abandoned, and so ramps will keep them here and support successful breeding, but also keep them more protected from threats such as dogs by not having to walk so far along the beach for nest access, out in the open. Peter Brailsford and his class decided that perhaps they could come up with a design of ramp where the penguins could access their nests each day. We put the new ramp out on the beach as a trial run, with a camera to record the usage, however with much technology issues with the camera, we didn't get a confirmed answer as to whether the ramp needed altering or not. Next season we will try again. A big thank you to the students for their time and energy. But particularly to Peter, who turned up on a Sunday afternoon having built a huge ramp and a floatation system. Watch this space!

Following on from previous years of foraging studies in the Charleston area, last season we carried out a pilot study at Camerons Beach.

Following on from previous years of foraging studies in the Charleston area, during the 2023 season we carried out a pilot study at Camerons Beach, tracking the foraging paths of three blue penguins at chick guard stage, when one adult remains to guard and the other goes to sea to forage, over four days. We plan to carry out a more extensive study this coming season. This was the first time we have undertaken any study at the Camerons Beach colony and we plan to continue and expand this project during the 2024 season. We hope this will give us an insight into the foraging areas and patterns of our local penguins in this more residential area of the West Coast. Two important reasons for carrying out a foraging study are firstly, finding out what determines where the penguins are going to find their food source.  Sea surface temperatures? Chlorophyll amounts? Different marine conditions? And secondly, to understand and map where penguins go, which will help us contribute to marine science and spatial planning, to discuss with fisheries and overall, help us to protect our wildlife and the marine ecosystems they rely on. We have carried out foraging studies in the past, at the Knoll and Rahui Colonies, close to the Nile River in previous years and it will be interesting to see the results of this year and make comparisons. Read about these previous studies here. Here are some maps and findings from the pilot study 2023 season:

  Some key points were the average dive depth of 4.29m and average range from home of 26.02kms. Just three dives of the several thousand recorded were over 20m.  In ‘ordinary’ foraging conditions, penguins will generally not be diving deeper than 10m. The furthest point from home reached by these three penguins was 36.4kms.  Other data needs to be interpreted in light of battery failures before the loggers were recovered in 5 out of six trips. The impact of climate change and marine heatwaves with likely increasingly adverse effects on little penguins is a concern.  The adverse effect 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. Key insights from data obtained so far:

1. West Coast kororā showed very shallow foraging behaviour: mean maximum dive depth 4.29m. This could be due to a high proportion of travelling dives.
2. Range for trips average 26.02 kms from home, the furthest being 36.4kms. 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 will provide crucial insights.
3. Results are similar to findings from an earlier study from the Charleston study colony with average an range from home of 26kms, some trips up to 36km from home with rare trips up to 60m from the colony, more parallel to coast than perpendicular.
4. All tracks indicate foraging within 110m bathymetric contour approximately.

We are lucky enough to have some eager high school students wanting to analyse the data for us and make some charts and tables. It is always a really great opportunity for both the Trust and school students to collaborate with these sorts of things. Statistics is a compulsory topic at school and, in year 11, 12 and 13, all exams are statistics based, so what a great collaboration and a worthwhile and interesting topic for the students. We look forward to some data analysis from the students soon, but we should note this is just year 1!  We won't be able to read too much into data from three birds performing two foraging trips each though we may be able to review alongside our other foraging study results from Charleston. Our pilot study has however confirmed that this is an excellent study site and we are keeping in close contact with the Guardians of Paroa Taramakau Coastal Area Trust as we go.