Loss of habitatt for New Zealand's penguins

Starving and dead penguins found on Waiheke Island and around New Zealand

Stuff,

20 January, 2018

Snapper is a survivor, but numerous penguins have died around Waiheke Island in the past 10 days.

Starving and dead little blue penguins are being reported on Waiheke Island and throughout the country.

About 10 little blue penguin deaths have been reported to Waiheke Native Bird Rescue in the past 10 days.

Founder of the service, Karen Saunders, said two severely underweight penguins were brought to her on Sunday and another arrived on Wednesday.

Waiheke Native Bird Rescue founder Karen Saunders is concerned by the spate of dead and starving penguins.

Waiheke Native Bird Rescue founder Karen Saunders is concerned by the spate of dead and starving penguins.

One adult and one baby penguin died, while a baby called Snapper is displaying a stunning will to survive, she said.

Dead and starving penguins are being reported at bird rescue centres on Auckland's North Shore, Coromandel Peninsula, in Kaikoura, and in other parts of New Zealand.

Department of Conservation principal science advisor Graeme Taylor said La Nina conditions at sea since the spring have increased ocean temperatures, making it harder for young penguins to find fish.

"It's likely that lots of young penguin chicks left their nests in November and December.

"They are now struggling to find food as they're on their own and learning to fend for themselves at sea," Taylor said.

Saunders is concerned that both climate change and over-fishing are behind the influx of starving little blue penguins, which are an endangered species classified as "declining".

"The oceans are just dying, it's awful.

"I would love to see the ocean around the whole of Waiheke Island become a marine reserve.

"A huge number of seabirds come to the Hauraki Gulf - it's an amazing ecological area of our world and we're just destroying what we've got," Saunders said.

Last year, 14 baby penguins were brought into the Waiheke bird rescue centre and they all died.

"All the babies were coming out of the nests because the parents abandon the nests.

"If they can't find food, they keep looking for food and don't go back because they have got nothing to feed their babies."

Penguins often come into the bird rescue centre weighing less than 500 grams, when a normal adult should weigh 1100 grams.

"They have lost such much weight, they are going into multiple organ dysfunction and haven't lasted more than a couple of hours," Saunders said.

She is encouraging anyone who sees a sick penguin or other seabird to bring it into the bird rescue centre immediately.

"If you can get near a seabird, it's critically ill," she said.

Saunders said it's not only illegal but a "nightmare" when people try to look after native birds themselves, because often they do more harm than good.

Stormy weather coupled with king tides on January 4 and 5 was exhausting for penguins, who could not sleep in burrows close to the coast, she said.

People should keep dogs on leads on beaches for 48 hours after storms to make sure they don't harm exhausted seabirds, Saunders said.

After the storm on January 4 and 5, about 14 birds were brought into the bird rescue centre, a huge percentage of the 19 birds Saunders has seen this year.

These included a little shearwater, a diving petrel, blue petrels, a fairy prion, kingfishers, and tui.

Some were underweight and others were exhausted by the storm.

Getting an average of one new bird a day is hard work for Saunders, whose role is voluntary.

"It has been chaos," she said.