Little penguins and other seabirds in

the South Taranaki Bight

John Cockrem

Professor of Comparative Endocrinology

Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences

Massey University

Palmerston North

TeKunenga

ki Purehuroa

Forest & Bird (2014). Important areas for New Zealand seabirds: sites at sea, seaward

extensions, pelagic areas. The Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand,

Wellington, New Zealand.

The STB is within the Cook

Strait Important Bird and

Biodiversity Area (IBA) and

hence is an area of

international significance

for the conservation of the

world’s birds.

The STB is the

largest area of

relatively shallow

water off the west

coast of the North

Island.

http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/environment/environmental-reporting-series/environmental-indicators/home/marine/primary-productivity.aspx

https://neptune.gsfc.nasa.gov/uploads/science/slides/200501_08_lg.jpg

Little penguins

• at risk and declining, vulnerable to food shortages

• strong evidence for breeding along the south Taranaki coastline

• full extent of breeding along the Taranaki and Whanganui coastlines and use of the

STB for foraging by little penguins is not known

Foraging trip completed by a little penguin from Motuara Island (shown with the camera symbol

on the map) in the Marlborough Sounds during incubation

Waugh, S. M. (2016). From Motuara to Taranaki – little penguins swim up to 170 km. Birds New Zealand Volume 9 March 2016: 9.

Foraging trips completed by fourteen little blue penguins tagged at Motuara Island, Marlborough, during the incubation period in Spring 2015. Eleven of the fourteen penguins foraged in waters off South Taranaki. These data are Te Papa copyright and summarised in Poupart et al. (accepted for publication in NZ Journal of Zoology).

From Ngā Motu Marine Reserve Society Submission (page 16).

Little penguins

• little penguins swim from the Marlborough Sounds to forage in the STB

• little penguins that breed in the Marlborough Sounds experience food shortages and

in some years chicks die due to starvation

• the STB may be an important if not crucial feeding area for the survival of populations

of little penguins that breed in the Marlborough Sounds

Seabirds in the STB

• more than two thirds of the species of seabirds seen on two seabird viewing trips in

the STB in 2009 are classified as threatened or at risk in the New Zealand Threat

Classification System

• we do not have a comprehensive knowledge of what species of seabirds use the

STB and do not know how the use of the STB by seabirds changes throughout the

year and from year to year

Fairy prions

Fairy prions

• breed on Stephens Island

• very large numbers of fairy prions occur in the STB

• at least 100 000 prions have been seen less than 10 km from the proposed mining

area

• more than 10 000 prions per hour have been seen passing Waverly Beach

• the area of the STB that would be affected by sand mining is within the likely daily

foraging range of fairy prions breeding on Stephens Island

P

P =100 000 prions

Stephens Island

100 km

Fairy prions

• food shortages are reported to be an important contributing cause of large mortalities

of fairy prions that occur along the west coast of the North Island

• the estimated population of 2.8 million fairy prions that breed on Stephens Island are

likely to depend on the availability of food in the STB for successful breeding

• the amount of variation from year to year in the breeding success of fairy prions

breeding on Stephens Island is not known

Adverse effects of sand mining on seabirds (1)

Reduced foraging opportunities due to reduced water visibility

• sand mining would reduce horizontal visibility and water column light intensity

• little penguins and other seabirds are visual foragers

• sand mining would reduce foraging opportunities for little penguins and other

seabirds

Reduced availability of prey fish

• the availability of prey fish for little penguins and other seabirds could be reduced

due to adverse effects of reduced water visibility on fish that are visual foragers

Reduction in light at seabed: average of modelling over two years

Pinkerton, M. and Gall, K. (2015). Optical effects of proposed iron-sand mining in the South Taranaki Bight region. NIWA Client Report: WLG2015-26

EEZ000004_SSC_mining-derived_run23_mine-a-v4-MSVC.mp4 http://www.epa.govt.nz/search-databases/Pages/eez-proposals-details.aspx?ProposalNumber=EEZ000004#

Variation in modelled reduction in light at seabed

EEZ000004_SSC_mining-derived_run23_mine-a-v4-MSVC.mp4 http://www.epa.govt.nz/search-databases/Pages/eez-proposals-details.aspx?ProposalNumber=EEZ000004#

Variation in modelled reduction in light at seabed

Adverse effects of sand mining on seabirds (2)

• sand mining could cause a reduction in populations of little penguins that breed along

the coast of the STB and in the Marlborough Sounds

• whilst the extent to which sand mining would adversely affect fairy prions in the STB

cannot be determined, any reduction in food availability due to sand mining could

affect large numbers of prions

Adverse effects of sand mining on seabirds (3)

Seabird deaths due to collision with sand mining vessel

• at least 100 000 prions have been seen less than 10 km from the proposed mining

area

• large numbers of seabirds may be present at night at the sites of the proposed sand

mining

• there is the potential for significant mortality of seabirds attracted to lights at an iron

sands extraction vessel

The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010

The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010 (Government of New Zealand, 2010) is

a national policy statement of the Government of New Zealand.

Policy 11 Indigenous biological diversity (biodiversity) reads

"To protect indigenous biological diversity in the coastal environment: (a) avoid adverse

effects of activities on: (i) indigenous taxa that are listed as threatened or at risk in the

New Zealand Threat Classification System lists“.

Sand mining would have adverse effects on little penguins and other threatened and at

risk seabirds and hence would contravene the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement

2010.

Conclusion

The South Taranaki Bight (STB) is an important area for little penguins and other threatened

and at risk seabirds

Sand mining would have adverse effects on birds in the STB

The adverse effects of sand mining on little penguins and other threatened and at risk

seabirds would contravene the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010 of the

Government of New Zealand

The full extent of the adverse effects cannot be accurately predicted