Shearwaters

Shearwater are common sights out on tour with Seal Kayak Kaikoura with many different pelagic species soaring across the ocean. The endangered Hutton’s shearwater is a unique sighting, being endemic to Kaikōura and having significant importance to the area - breeding nowhere else in the world and being the only alpine breeding seabird globally.

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• 10 different species of shearwater can be viewed off the Kaikoura coastline.
• The Hutton's shearwater breeds only in the Seaward Kaikoura Ranges between
  altitudes of 1200 and 1800m. Eight colonies were rediscovered in the 1960s by
  Geoff Harrow, with only two remnant colonies remaining today.
• Some species have been known to dive as deep as 70m.
• The Hutton’s shearwater is nocturnal in flight over land, using the moon and stars
  to navigate. During the breeding season from August-April, the species is prone to
  township light disorientation, resulting in crashlanding. Without the thermal updraft
  of a wave or mountainside, they cannot become airborne once grounded.
  This rare seabird requires immediate rescue for handover and release at sea. See:
  https://www.kaikourawildlifecentre.org/huttonsshearwater