Sustainable Tourism with Penguins Pohatu Tours
“Come closer, quietly now” instructed Kevin our guide, beckoning us towards the nesting box, “No sudden movements or bright lights, please”. We had to be as non-threatening as possible if we wanted to meet those who resided within this inconspicuous box. I crept closer, the air around the group was alive with excitement. Kevin happy with our formation of a quiet human U shape, carefully lifted the lid. And inside two pairs of intense steel blue eyes looked up at us, belonging to the white-flippered Penguin, Canterbury’s own variant of the Australasian Little Penguin.
Kevin carefully lifted up the nesting box so we can all have a peek.
30cm and 1.5kg of penguin adorableness, staring slightly perplexed at all these curious humans gazing into their home. Kevin after a few moments of allowing us all to gawk at these gorgeous birds, carefully lowered the box lid shuttering them from view and giving them back the privacy of their home. It would be quite odd, I thought, to have the roof of your home suddenly lifted and a circle of giants peeking in. That is why we only get a few seconds to see in, but those few seconds are enough. More than enough.
We were on the evening penguin tour exploring the private land of Shireen and Francis Helps. Shireen and Francis, 30 years ago realized that the penguin numbers around the Bank Pensulia were declining dramatically and one of the big reasons was introduced predators. DoC would not help, due to a lack of resources and pessimism that the penguins were too far gone to be saved, so these two took it upon their selves to help these penguins. Because for them it was far from a lost cause, there was still hope if some penguins still remained.
This led to extensive trapping and building of nest boxes and 30 years later, Pohatu has around 900 breeding pairs and is the largest White flippered penguin colony found on mainland New Zealand. It goes to show what community conservation can achieve.
Now the family runs a number of different wildlife tours with their Pohatu company where they share their conservation story and give the public a chance to see wildlife in a respectful and educational way. You can go kayak and spot wildlife on the coastlines and out at sea, stay in their unique farm stay accommodation including a gypsy wagon, where you may hear penguins under your floorboards at night, and go along on their nature tours.
I was invited along to their evening penguin tour. The tour began with a 45-minute drive along pretty adventurous, often sheep barricaded, backcountry roads. This includes a few photo stops offering views for days - all without having to hike for hours to get to. My kind of view. We learned about the geology and history of the area, from our guide, Kevin, a French ex-pat who fell in love with the area and never left.
Arriving at Pohatu, which translates to a rocky place, we were given outfits to blend in. These were not penguin suits as one guest proposed, but camouflaged ponchos. Very chic. Some kids were not too keen on the outfit change, but with the promise of penguins, they were soon eagerly pulling on our penguin-friendly suits. We headed off and walked past hundreds of nesting boxes each with names nailed on them, such as Buttons and Bertie, who proudly lived in one such box.
We were a procession of cameo-wearing bird enthusiasts, peeking into a few boxes for just a brief moment, to catch a glimpse of this wonderful unique bird. Depending on the season, there is different activity happening around here to see. In spring and summer, nesting and fluffy chicks, in summer they moult - lose their feathers and look a little scruffy, in autumn they return to nesting sites and socialize on the water, and in winter - their appearance is a bit sporadic in Pohatu.
The white flippered penguin is an interesting bird. A separate species of the little penguin is only found in this region and is different than the blue penguin by having white on the edges of their flippers. The waters around the Bank peninsula are a beautiful turquoise blue due to the glacial sediment that comes down from the Southern Alps, so to match the color of this water the penguin's coat lightens over time aiding them in camouflage.
Our group ended up at a bird hide overlooking the craggy shoreline and calm waters of the bay. Binoculars raised to our eyes, we all eagerly scanned the waters below. Looking for one of the smallest penguins in the world, seemed like hunting for a needle in a haystack, but before long Kevin excitedly exclaimed - ‘there, there, penguins’. Look for the heart-shaped rock, he instructed, and slightly down and to the right of that, are the penguins. And sure enough, floating was a tight-knit group of socializing penguins. They will not attempt to come on land until night falls, to avoid predators, until then they will simply be adrift.
Kevin told us there was another spot we could check out for penguins. The walk would be a little bit precarious he warned, but we were already eagerly moving forward before he could finish his warning. The lure of penguins is strong it would seem. Kevin at some point, acted as a barricade, with the drop-down being a bit alarming, but we all managed to get to the second viewing platform. And lo and behold, three or four penguins were resting on the rocks, viewable with the naked eye. Later, they would climb to their burrows and nesting boxes, some at 200m above sea level altitude. For a tiny bird, they sure can climb. Kevin told us to try and jump into bed tonight with our knees tucked into our shirts, this is the same manner as to how the penguin climbs upwards.
By this time, the light was fading fast. Seeping from the sky, kids were yawning and I felt like my cheeks hurt from all the grinning I had done during the evening. Three hours of wildlife bliss. One thing that always excites me is seeing community conservation stories. Stories where people with passion and often not much money, put their all into conservation. Not because they have to - not because it is their job, but because they want to. They want to ensure that these aspects of nature are still around for their grandchildren to see and marvel at. Humanity's spark for caring about things outside of themselves is weaved in these stories, and it gives me hope for our future. Small actions make big changes, and that is why we need people like Shireen and Francis. When we have passionate people like this, maybe our natural world has a chance.
Kevin drove us back to Akaroa. It was dark. The city of Akaroa was twinkling below and we sat back with thoughts of penguins and Pohatu and what community conservation can achieve.
