Katiki

This is one big boy of a tawaki! Katiki was found moulting behind the toilet by the boat ramp at Shag Point, about a 45-minutes-drive north of Dunedin. This is another example of a penguin deciding to moult in a silly place. The boat ramp is used by fishermen that often have dogs with them. Despite Katiki being quite a portly representative of its species, he wouldn’t stand a chance if a canine decided to have play with him.

Vigilant residents notified Rosalie Goldsworthy of Penguin Rescue fame who took Katiki into her care at the Katiki Point Lighthouse.

The rest of the moult must have been a dream for the penguin with frequent meals, medical attention and his own private room (a pen, really). When Thomas and Richard arrived at Katiki Point on 13 February 2020 to fit the penguin with a satellite tag – the fourth rehabilitated bird – the penguin weighed a massive 4.1 kg. The heaviest post-moult (unassisted) tawaki on record was 3.6 kg on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.
And Katiki proved to be a beast that gave his all to express his displeasure with being removed from his pen for a release on Okahau beach not far from the lighthouse. Hissing and biting, Katiki made sure this would be a memorable deployment for the researchers.

When, finally, he was released in what the humans thought would be a neat little nook for Katiki, he disagreed and waddled of across the beach to find his own spot. And there he remained for the next three days before taking the plunge in the morning of 16 February 2020.

In keeping with his body condition on release, Katiki proves to be a high-performance athlete amongst the tracked tawaki so far. Travelling at an average speed of 5km/h, he has already travelled more then 5000 km in the six weeks he is at sea. He did not doodle around like many of the other birds but seemed to be on a mission to be the first to reach the subantarctic region. He is the furthest away from New Zealand, currently some 1800 km south of Adelaide.