Albatross, Megaherbs, Penguins and Sealions on Enderby Island

Day 5. Wednesday 15 January – Enderby Island

Noon position: Latitude 50^o30.46’South; Longitude 166⁰16.85’East

Air temperature: 11^oC, Water temperature: 12^oC

We had an early start today beginning with a wake-up call from Agnes at 6.15. 
After breakfast we had the usual pre-shore visit briefing, then lunch making with an excellent selection of fillings. We landed at Enderby Island on Sandy Bay. Two huts used by parties which annually record the New Zealand (Hookers) Sea Lion population were on high ground nearby. Simon Childerhouse of Blue Planet Marine, the organisation contracted by NZ Dept. of Conservation, told us what his team would be doing over the next few weeks. About 270 pups have been born on this beach this season to 250 females. This is the lowest tally since the 1980’s with a 50% reduction over the last two years. Males totalled 140-180 with the large dominant ‘beach-masters’ around 12-15 years old.

We had a choice of two walks – one on the boardwalk across the island and back; the other that would take us around the end of the island and back to Sandy Bay.  

Drew and I opted to do the longer walk which started on the board walk across the island, through the gnarled Southern Rata covered in crimson flowers into heathland. About midway along the board walk, a magnificent male Southern Royal Albatross was sitting on its nest, a raised mound of mud and vegetation. Rodney told us that there are 60 pairs of Southern Royal Albatross on Enderby Island. This one was so quiet and regal, presumably used to the hordes of people clustering around pointing cameras at it. 

The boardwalk ended at the southern shore overlooking jagged black cliffs to the sea crashing below, with long strands of bull kelp writhing in the surf. 





Those of us heading around the island then threaded our way through the hummocky tussock grass and mega herbs. The yellow Bulbinella rossi lily had mostly finished flowering but we were treated to a large area of pink Anisotome antipoda celery relative.  At one stage, Rodney said, only two celery plants remained on the island but since eradication of cattle and rabbits, the mega herbs have rejuvenated. 

Bulbine lily (above) and celery family  below

Some twitchers were successful at flushing out a very shy endemic Auckland Island Snipe along with many very tame Pipits that were almost underfoot.


Further on we stopped to enjoy a small colony of Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross nesting among lots of Auckland Island Shags (cormorants) on the edge of the cliff. Nearby was an area of bare sloping soil on that looked like the take of ramp for the albatross.

Dr Eric managed to find some Red-crowned parakeets in some tea trees at the edge of the forest, We got a good look at several Yellow-eyed Penguins sitting on nests on the grass a little way inland, and others were preening themselves on the rocks. They are 2-3 times the size of our fairy penguins. Small brown endemic flightless  Teal were seen near a small stream,. A skua was sitting on his/her nest right out in the open grass behind the rock platform. Near Teal Lake, the remains of a number of Prions probably represented a ‘Skua larder’. The cliffs became lower as we rounded the westerly end.  Just off the pebble beach on the north side were more long strings of bull kelp that writhed and seethed in the swell like Medusa’s serpent tresses.

Pushing our way through the tussocks (with gentians and some megaherbs - Macquarie cabbage - growing in between) was quite tiring and we were wishing that the walk had been a few kilometers of tussocks shorter! 

There was also the additional unwanted excitement of not knowing whether we would suddenly disturb a sleeping sea lion hiding among the tussocks. In fact several times we had to skirt around them, and once we had to retreat hastily (but not run) from an over-friendly? young male that was heading for us.

Finally we got back to Sandy Bay beach, where we could enjoy watching and photographing the antics of the Sea Lions. 

There were at least two groups of different-aged pups in crèches of 50-60 pups, watched over by a couple of females to keep the males at bay. The older pups were playing chasings and tussling like children. Some older sub-adult males were also sparring with each other. The rest of the females were just lounging around. 

  

Brown Skuas (‘angels of death’) hovering around, waiting for a young pup to stray from the crèche.

When coming to fetch us back to the ship the zodiacs were delivering drums of helicopter fuel that had to be rolled up the beach for later pick up.  It was wet gumboots in the surf for some getting back into the zodiacs.

Thankfully it was another calm evening at anchor with a subtle pink stormy sunset. 


We raised the anchor at 3 am to motor further south to anchor in Carnley Harbour on the south end of Auckland Island.