From forest to caves

Tamatea/Dusky Sound appears to be a transition point for tawaki breeding preferences. In the fjords north of Tamatea, we found the majority of tawaki colonies in forest settings, be it the Fuchsia-fern grove that is Harrison Cove in Piopiotahi/Milford Sound, or the primary forest islands of Patea/Doubtful Sound. Sure, the colonies all look vastly different, but what they all have in common is that they are located in forests.

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And with the idea of finding tawaki in forest settings we also arrived in Dusky Sound. However, while we did indeed encounter tawaki colonies on forested islets, we also searched other spots and found at best a handful of nests on islands that theoretically could host hundreds of nests.

A good example was the large, unnamed island in Cormorant Cove in the northern reaches of the fjord. The four of us battled through the undergrowth for what felt like an eternity, we only came up with six nests on the entire 14 hectare island. We spent the night anchored at that island and while having her breakfast muesli Robin spotted a tawaki on the rocks not far from the Tutuko. When she and Myrene checked out that spot a bit later, they discovered a small cave entrance – and a colony of eleven nests in it. Needless to say that from then on, we were on the lookout for sea caves.

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Especially towards the tail end of our time in Tamatea, we had our eyes on the shoreline. We spotted many potential caves but hardly ever had the chance to inspect them as landing at those sites was rather difficult if not outright perilous.

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In essence, Tamatea/Dusky Sound can be described as a transition zone for tawaki breeding habits. North of Dusky, the majority of the penguins breed in forests. In Dusky, besides forest settings, tawaki colonies can be found in sea caves, like on Rakiura/Stewart Is in the South.

We even found Tamatea tawaki colonies in caves that were located deep in the forest. So it would appear that in southern Fiordland, the penguins rather live underground than under trees. A sign of centuries of hunting pressure by iwi in the southern ranges of the species?

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More questions to address in the coming years. Working with tawaki never gets boring.