September 2019

Doubtful Sound recce

September 16, 2019 at 1:27 pm


We made it to Doubtful Sound/Patea with the help of the fantastic people of Fiordland Expeditions (fiordlandexpeditions.co.nz) to test the waters for the next phase of the Tawaki Project. From next year onward we want to have a look how the penguins use the second longest fjord (40 km!) when foraging. Do they head out to the sea or do they stay in the fjord like their counterparts in Milford Sound/Piopiotahi?

East Shelter Island at the entrance of Doubtful Sound.

In the late afternoon the Tutoko dropped us off on one of the Shelter Islands which sit exposed right at the entrance if the fjord. Landing there is a bit of a nightmare but once we were in the forest, tawaki land greeted us with a penguin version of Hobbiton. Most penguins breed in ‘holes in the ground’ under a canopy of intricate tree root tangles. And quite a few of them were sitting on young chicks.

Tawaki Hobbiton on East Shelter Is.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a tawaki…”
Who says penguins are all black-and-white?
Let’s hope that tree has no plans of standing upright again.
A few days old chicks trying to squeeze into their dad’s brood patch.
The Tutoko from Fiordland Expeditions crewed by the super-helpful Abbo and Mandy