Video link: Pakaha meet Pakeha - kayaking alongside Fluttering Shearwaters (1 Viewer)

[Tui]

Hello,

Here's a link to a video I posted on youtube.

. I hope this isn't considered as spam. Admittedly I am doing this to help my channel get success. I am now in New Zealand at a coastal location and a several-thousand-strong flock of Fluttering Shearwaters Puffinus gavia, Pakaha in Maori, landed close to shore a few days back. Since somebody else went up close to them in a kayak without causing much seeming disturbance we decided to do the same, and here's some footage. It's rather lengthy and the video is shaky so just watch a little. Anyway I found this scene of shearwaters in suburbia quite unusual, being used to considering myself lucky for spotting any procellariiform from a barren headland. But apparently this is quite habitual for this species. And they were surprisingly tame as well. Anyone had similar experiences with related birds? And yes, we did disturb them a little, but considering that motorboats went racing right through them I think our relative impact was pretty limited.

 

[Mike Crawley]

I had a similar experience in Kaikoura with Hutton's Shearwater.
I went out with Albatross Encounter and a gr landed on the water in our path. The skipper slowed down and gently floated past, it was a great experience. Couple of Hector’s Dolphin in the same patch.
We then carried on to the continental shelf for the "main event" with albatross; petrel, etc.

 

[Tui]

I had a similar experience in Kaikoura with Hutton's Shearwater.
I went out with Albatross Encounter and a gr landed on the water in our path. The skipper slowed down and gently floated past, it was a great experience. Couple of Hector’s Dolphin in the same patch.
We then carried on to the continental shelf for the "main event" with albatross; petrel, etc.

Sounds cool! Sadly didn't see any Hutton's when I was in Kaikoura. It was in late fall, maybe that had to do with it. Gotta go back

 

[Mike Crawley]

Sounds cool! Sadly didn't see any Hutton's when I was in Kaikoura. It was in late fall, maybe that had to do with it. Gotta go back

I was there in January 2019 - highly recommended.
Whale watching produced the expected Sperm Whale and surprise Blue Whale and a huge school of Dusky Dolphin.
Plus some decent birding around the peninsula.