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Sustainable jewellery to help penguin conservation

We are delighted to be working with Golden Bay based sustainable jeweller Stone Arrow to raise funds for penguin conservation projects!

Stone Arrow create ethical and handcrafted jewellery you will love! Not only beautiful earrings and necklaces based on penguins but much more NZ flora and fauna based jewellery using a variety of recycled materials including silver, copper and glass.

And now, when you buy through their website, you simply put ‘bluepenguin‘ in the discount code box and a donation will wing its way to the West Coast Penguin Trust!

This is a beautiful way to collaborate, enjoy gorgeous sustainable NZ made jewellery, and support our projects!

Have a look at the stunning collection here and, when you order, use ‘bluepenguin’ to donate as you shop!

Thank you!

PS They also have some beautiful garden art among other things and you can sign up for their newsletter to receive news of discounts and be in to win! A few examples are shown below, but go to the website for the whole collection.

What are kororā eating on the Coast?

January 7, 2025

What are kororā eating on the Coast?

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A new environmental DNA pilot study by the New Zealand Penguin Initiative focussed on two sites, the Otago Peninsula and the West Coast Penguin Trust's study site at Camerons, Greymouth.

A new environmental DNA pilot study by the New Zealand Penguin Initiative (NZPI) to find out what little penguins / kororā are eating focussed on two sites, the Otago Peninsula and the West Coast Penguin Trust's study site at Camerons, Greymouth. A summary of the NZPI pilot follows from Hiltrun Ratz:

What are kororā eating? eDNA Pilot Summary

Adult Triplefin. Photo credit: The Fishes of New Zealand 2015 eds. Roberts, Stewart and Struthers.

It’s been super exciting to get the go ahead to do a nationwide study on kororā diet this year. It’s just the start but we have results for two areas so far: Otago Peninsula and South Island West Coast. Scat – aka pooh – was collected in October and sent to Wilderlab for analyses of the DNA. These are then compared with known fish, crustaceans, molluscs etc. DNA and a list of species was sent back for the exciting bit of working out what the kororā have been eating.

While the results were not unexpected, they were surprising!

Image Credit: Triplefin youngster. Palacios-Fuentes et al. 2014.

Kororā in Otago were eating mostly Triplefin (or cockabullies) and sprat – together almost 95%. Previous diet studies were based on hard parts of fish that identified the species and size, and Triplefin has never been recorded. So, what’s going on? Adult Triplefin grow to a length of 5-10cm (ideal for Kororā to eat) but they occur on the bottom of the ocean that is out of diving reach for Kororā – but the DNA was in the scat. Therefore, they must have been eating pelagic (or mid-water) youngsters. A bit more straight forward with sprat: they grow to 12cm long and occur in schools in coastal waters. Previous diet studies recorded >50% of sprat in the diet, a much higher percentage than recorded here.

Image Credit: Blackhead Lanternfish; The Fishes of New Zealand 2015 eds. Roberts, Stewart and Struthers.

Kororā on the West Coast of South Island also brought a surprise: Almost two third of prey DNA was Blackhead Lanternfish, the next most important prey was Anchovy and Sprat. That makes sense because they all swim around mid-water and Kororā can reach them.

There were other species present in both samples, but they were not important: Tarakihi, Squid, Hoki, Lightfish, Stargazers, Warehou, various species of Kopupu (Whitebait), Octopus, Greenbone, Gurnard and Thornfish. These species were likely taken as pelagic youngsters. There are four more samples being processed from the North Island and we are looking forward to finding out how the diet there is different to the pilot study from the South Island colonies. And then we are doing it all again in a couple of months to find out what kororā are eating during summer – and then autumn and winter.

The main prey of our West Coast kororā were blackhead lanternfish or Lampichthys procerus, one of 250 species of lanternfish and one that seems to have avoided cameras - just a line drawing exists online. Apparently, they are found around the globe in the southern hemisphere in the region of the Subtropical Convergence. They grow up to 10cm long - perfect size for capture and swallow by kororā. We will be collecting scat seasonally to contribute to this interesting and valuable study.

Little penguin season update

December 10, 2024

Little penguin season update

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Good breeding season on the cards

The Trust's foraging study - tracking little penguins / kororā at sea - shifted from Charleston to Camerons for the 2023 season and the colony there was found more suitable for the regular breeding success monitoring and further developing our research programme.

Breeding success monitoring

Field work for the 2024 season started on 22 July at the Camerons colony, where most of the nest sites are in nest boxes and easier to monitor. Ranger Lucy Waller has found 61 potential nest sites in the general area, 21 of them being active this season. Interestingly, Lucy found that eggs were laid in 17 of these nests within the same three day period at the end of August. One pair laid two weeks earlier and first the chicks appeared to struggle and then sadly one adult was found dead in the nest. One of the chicks from that nest fledged at 11.5 weeks old and the other, apparently having been roughed up by the other, was slower and had to recover from lost chick down on his head, but we are pleased to report that the second chick fledged successfully at around 13 weeks old. Eggs were laid in the other three nests a few weeks later in mid-October.

penguins and egg — *Fresh egg with adult little penguin pair*

The first chicks fledged in the second week of November. In another interesting observation, Lucy found that, in every nest, there was a dominant, larger chick throughout the growing process, which was then more likely to fledge first. She also noted a general trend of a more dominant partner and a more shy partner among the adult pairs. Lucy noted: "A paper was written about ‘fat aggressive males being good breeders’ and from the angriest, most aggressive penguin we came across this season (the one that took the top of Thomas’ finger and my knuckle on one occasion), male and 1.5 kg, they were very successful breeders, with very fat, healthy, rapidly growing chicks." The paper entitled Correlations between body size, defensive behaviour and reproductive success in male Little Blue Penguins Eudyptula minor: implications for female choice was published in 2003 in the ornithological journal Ibis. It's a fascinating study from The University of Waikato and available here. Authors Masamine Miyazaki & Joseph R. Waas wrote: "Our results show that, in Little Blue Penguins, large males bred earlier than smaller ones and that chicks of larger males grew more rapidly than those of smaller males. A female’s body size, however, did not affect her reproductive success. Large males also used higher-pitched aggressive calls and were more likely to vocalize in response to an intruder’s call, but only during the post-guard stage. This vocal information could be used by opponents as well as females to gauge male attributes." Back to our study colony and, in one nest, it appears that the penguins abandoned their eggs but they have had a second attempt at breeding. We will have a full report and analysis of the season soon.

Microchipping for demography study

Microchipping of penguins at the Camerons colony also began this season and with help from fabulous volunteers Sharon, Maria and Grace, Lucy has microchipped 20 adults and 20 chicks. Microchips, also known as transponders or PIT tags, allow the trust to identify individual penguins. Lucy is trained to insert the microchip under the penguin's skin while the penguin is carefully held by her field assistant. A wand reader can be used to obtain a unique code from the microchip each time the penguin is seen. Minimal handling is always best and the penguins are back in their nest in moments.

penguin and chicks — *Adult and two little penguin chicks in nest box*

As data is collected from breeding and with an understanding of individual demographics thanks to the microchips, within the next 2-3 years we will be able to gain clarity with annual updates as to whether the population is growing or decreasing. We will also learn more about those larger and more assertive penguins.

Foraging study

The improved understanding of kororā described above will be supported by the foraging study, which this year has tracked kororā during the egg and then chick guard stages. The loggers record where penguins have been as well as frequency and depth of dives. The trust is very fortunate to have guidance from our scientist Dr Thomas Mattern and through him, Masters student Patrick Daugherty. In 2025, Patrick will be reviewing the foraging data with respect to marine conditions for our study and another community project based in New Plymouth. This is an area of work the trust has been hoping to undertake for a few years, linking an understanding of El Niño / La Niña conditions, sea surface temperatures and nutrients / chlorophyll to breeding success. Read more about the foraging study here Find out about a Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo volunteer working on this study here

Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo shares penguin volunteer Ellen

December 10, 2024

Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo shares penguin volunteer Ellen

Ellen Richarson, Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo volunteer

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Conservation partnership supports eight excellent and long volunteer days for Ellen Richardson working with Ranger Lucy Waller.

The West Coast Penguin Trust has benefitted from a conservation partnership with Wellington Zoo Trust - Te Nukuao Tūroa o Te Whanganui a Tara for several years. The partnership began in 2017 founded on our shared interest in the wellbeing and improved conservation outcomes for both little penguins or kororā and Fiordland crested penguins or tawaki. Our trust's work has benefitted from donations, predominantly for tawaki projects, but also for penguin care and rehabilitation with the zoo's animal hospital - The Nest Te Kōhanga, education, and sourcing ethical, sustainable fundraising items for sale. We have also presented our work to zoo staff and to other conservation partners and stakeholders, and supported the zoo's lead on the global 'Reverse the Red' campaign to ensure the survival of wild species and ecosystems. One component of the conservation partnership is the opportunity to have a volunteer assist in our work. The zoo offers staff the opportunity to apply for paid leave to work on conservation projects linked to the zoo. This year we were very fortunate to have zoo keeper Ellen Richardson join us. Ellen's key role was to assist Ranger Lucy Waller with the foraging study. Penguins need to be held carefully while loggers are attached and Ellen stepped up perfectly for this role. The flip side of attaching loggers is retrieving them. Ellen and Lucy spent hours waiting for some of the birds with loggers to return late at night so that they could be retrieved.

penguin foraging study — *Logger attached to little penguin*

Loggers were deployed while penguin parents were incubating eggs and then again while they were taking turns to guard and feed chicks. Great care is taken and the handling time is minimised, usually less than five minutes. Data from the loggers for these two key stages is being analysed and we will report back in the new year. Ellen spent a very busy eight days with Lucy, preparing for the logger work, and then working with Lucy on the foraging study field work, monitoring penguin colonies in the Buller district and helping with microchipping. This was a fabulous opportunity for our trust to have a capable and committed volunteer on board, fully funded by Wellington Zoo Trust - Te Nukuao Tūroa o Te Whanganui a Tara. Lucy and Ellen achieved a great deal during the week and both enjoyed the experience. Our very grateful thanks go to Ellen and to Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo.

Penguin survey — *Ellen Richardson, Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo volunteer, looking for penguins with burrowscope*

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Woodpecker Bay Baches

Woodpecker Bay is the bay encompassing Fox River, just north of Punakaiki, on the wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Our West Coast accommodation consists of 6 self-contained baches situated along the coast of Woodpecker Bay. Woodpecker Bay offers remoteness and unmatched natural beauty and all of our baches have stunning ocean views and are right on the water’s edge. All baches have fully equipped kitchens and all linen is provided, all of our baches have free and fast WiFi. They are suitable for couples, friends and families looking to explore the beauty of the West Coast. We are thrilled to have been supporting the West Coast Penguin Trust since 2016.