Hidden colonies

Finding new tawaki colonies often borders on a miracle. Doubtful Sound with all its side-arms and connecting fjords features some 400 km of coastline. Most of it is covered in lush green rainforest that has hypnotic properties if you stare at this green wall for a while through binoculars in the hope of spotting a tawaki landing site.

Somewhere halfway up Doubtful Sound, we found a new, uncharted tawaki colony. While sea kayaking the fjord in late August, Sam Goodall Outdoor Multisport spotted tawaki on a seemingly random rock and snapped a photo which he later relayed to us via Instagram. Armed with a description on where to find this spot, we cruised up and down about 800 m stretch of shoreline in an effort to find Sam’s spot. We were about to give up when we noticed a horizontal tree trunk just above the water line, which matched Sam’s photo.

Covered in lush green forest an old rockfall just behind that tree offered potentially good breeding habitat.

We explored the site, squeezed into narrow caves and – of course – there they were. Tawaki dads guarding their chicks.

The small colony of 5-10 breeding pairs has been mapped as “Sam’s Spot”.

When the Tutuko headed towards the Shelter Islands after our 1-hour survey, we looked back towards the green wall behind which Sam’s Spot is hidden. We asked ourselves how many of these tiny pockets of forest harbouring tawaki colonies there are in Doubtful Sound – and the other fjords. It could be many.