Environmental teams from shipping ports across New Zealand were given a tour of Napier’s ground-breaking Kororā(Little Blue Penguin) Sanctuary this week.

Napier Port hosted the 2022 NZ Port’s Environment and Sustainability Forum from 5-7 October with featured topics including a tour of the sanctuary, Napier Port’s Te reo Māori strategy and the Marine Cultural Health Programme, a partnership with mana whenua hapū of Ahuriri to monitor and protect the health of the Ahuriri marine environment.

On hand to talk to BayBuzz about the kororā sanctuary was John Cockrem, Professor Of Comparative Endocrinology from Massey University, and the Port’s Environmental Advisor and qualified penguin handler, Paul Rose. Both of these men have been instrumental in developing the unique sanctuary alongside the construction of the Port’s new sixth wharf named Te Whiti.  

With the wharf is finished, they are continuing to monitor and develop the sanctuary as a research site to learn more about the kororā and use this as a model for other projects around NZ. (John receives $30,000 in gifted funding each year from the Port to continue his work as a consultanting penguin biologist).

“Although there are other sanctuaries in NZ  for kororā, Napier is the first created on an industrial port site,” says John. “In my opinion Napier Port is very much the NZ leader in having a true commitment to protecting its wildlife.”

John has been studying different species of penguins for 30 years. Now much of his time is spent advising on the care of kororā within construction projects around the country, including recently speaking up on the safety of the species at the controversial marina development on Waiheke Island.  

Kororā are the smallest of the world’s penguin species, typically growing to between 30 and 33 cm tall and on average weighing 1.5 kg. They are found all around NZ’s coasts and in Australia where they are called fairy penguins. Their Latin name ‘Eudyptula minor’ means ‘good little diver’. 

“Kororā are considered a species at risk in NZ,” says John, “and where there are people their numbers are steadily going down, mainly because of dogs.

“Wharfs are wonderful places for birds,” he adds. “There are no mammalian predators, no people, no random dogs and if they are not seen as a nusiance, then they can co-exist happily alongside port operations.” 

The Napier Penguin Sanctuary was hatched as part of  Napier Port’s Avian Management Plan during the environmental evaluation and consent process for Te Whiti Wharf.

“We knew the penguins had long made their home in the rock walls all around the port,” says Paul.  “So we bought in a DOC penguin sniffer dog called Rua who found 70 nests ( today the latest annual survey shows 178 nests all around the Port).  

Some kororā  lived in the revetment wall where the sixth wharf was going to go and that’s when the idea for the 750 square metre sanctuary took flight. John advised on this and there are now 50 custom-built nesting boxes (some decoratered by Napier Central School pupils, some built by mana whenua hapū who are kaitiaki of the Napier Port area and another 15 made by port staff) each with their own rocky entrance and accessed via a purpose built sea ramp and covered walkway, about 300 metres around the corner from the new Te Whiti wharf.

Not all the nesting boxes are occupied yet, but each kororā that comes into the sanctuary is micro-chipped and then Paul and John can monitor their movements. Two nesting boxes are currently hooked up a live camera feed (see https://www.napierport.co.nz/our-business/our-future/6-wharf/building-sustainably/korora-sanctuary/#Keeping_Up_With_the_Kororā.  One shows a new mother nurturing her chicks and another shows a bird sitting on eggs due to hatch on 10 October.

“We know pretty bang on that the eggs will hatch 35 days after the second one was laid,” says Paul.  

There was great excitement at the sanctuary recently when a kororā called Ocean arrived safely back to a nesting box almost two years to the day after she was first found injured and dehydrated at Ocean Beach in August 2020. This return marked an amazing journey for the penguin. It was first brought to the National Aquarium of New Zealand for its initial care, followed by an operation and four-month rehabilitation stay at Wildbase Hospital at Massey University, and then released to the Napier Port Penguin Sanctuary for its safe return to the wild. 

Chicks born at the port sanctuary fledge and go off to sea. “A lot die,” says Paul “or they might come back 18 months later and will breed after two and half years.  

“We don’t have a clue where they go so we’re going to start tracking them with a satellite tracking device made by a Havelock North firm called Lotek,” says John. “We’ve also discovered the birds can be at home at night but away during the day and this is important information for me advising on their care at construction sites. During the day their populations might seem a lot smaller than they  actually are.”

As part of Napier Port’s Avian Management Plan, endangered seabirds, notably red and black bill gulls that have made the Port their home are also being catered for with upgraded accommodation, “or enhanced habitats,“ says John. “We’ve created a designated nesting area for them in an area that is not going to affect port operations. We’ve moved some concrete blocks and imported gravel to simulate a river bed or beach. We’re also implementing an artificial tree that will be a roosting pole with a wooden platform for nesting.”

Paul hosts school groups and is starting to give regular community talks about the sanctuary. Ultimately he would like to see it open to the public in a few years – “once numbers of breeding pairs are up and more of our fledging chicks have come back to breed”.

He and John are hopeful other ports may follow the example of Napier Port’s Avian Management Plan.

“There are bird habitats at every port,” says John, “and they don’t need to be a nusiance and get in the the way of the commercial operation.”

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air