NZ Penguin Initiative, Q1 2021 Report, Thomas Mattern & Richard
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1 NZ Penguin Initiative, Q1 2021 Report, Thomas Mattern & Richard Seed Quarter One (Q1) Report 2021 THOMAS MATTERN (SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR) RICHARD SEED (RESEARCH & CONSERVATION COORDINATOR) 13TH APRIL 2021 Abstract The transponder gate in Harrison Cove is operational again following nearly a year of technical issues. Comprehensive analysis of three years’ worth of tawaki winter tracking data is underway with plans to publish two scientific papers this winter. Two film production companies plan to work alongside the Tawaki Project this field season; (1) Netflix’s ‘Our Planet’ series and (2) a South American documentary about NZPI advisor Popi Garcia-Borboroglu and the Global Penguin Society. Our comprehensive paper summarizing the survey of Erect-crested penguins on the Bounty Islands has been published in the latest issue of Notornis, while further analysis of drone imagery from the surveys has provided a detailed topographic reconstruction of the area. With the research permits attained, logistics are now be arranged for a 2021 research expedition to the Bounty Islands and Antipodes. Both the NZ Penguin Database and kororā monitoring protocols have been updated following their first year in operation. Establishment and monitoring of a marked kororā population on the West Coast revealed a bird in the colony that was marked as a chick nearly 1000 km round the coast in Otago. Halfmoon bay school have completed the first season of their pilot kororā monitoring project on Rakiura with help from NZPI. The Fiordland community were engaged with our research and penguin conservation through public and school talks. 2 NZ Penguin Initiative, Q1 2021 Report, Thomas Mattern & Richard Seed Contents Winter season of the Tawaki Project ............................................................................................ 3 Milestone FP2 - Automatic monitoring solutions .......................................................................... 3 Milestone FP6 – Marine Ecology baseline information ................................................................. 5 General business – Media engagement ........................................................................................ 6 Research on subantarctic penguins – Antipodes/Bounty islands .................................................... 7 Milestone AP1 - General Biology................................................................................................... 7 Revised little penguin/ kororā monitoring protocols ................................................................... 10 Milestone LP2 - Develop universal LP survey protocols .............................................................. 10 Development of the New Zealand Penguin Database (NZPDB) .................................................... 11 Milestone LP2 - Develop universal LP survey protocols .............................................................. 11 Update on national little penguin/kororā monitoring programme ............................................... 13 Milestone LP3 - Establish national monitoring plan .................................................................... 13 Fiordland community engagement ............................................................................................. 16 General business - Education & advocacy ................................................................................... 16 3 NZ Penguin Initiative, Q1 2021 Report, Thomas Mattern & Richard Seed Winter season of the Tawaki Project Milestone FP2 - Automatic monitoring solutions Harrison Cove transponder gate back in operation After nearly a year of technical issues the transponder gate in Harrison Cove is working again. The data logging and control unit had suffered multiple hardware failures, presumably due to moisture penetrating the Otter case that houses the electronics. Usually very reliable in their waterproofness, the Otter case was compromised by dirt and leaf matter settling on the lid seal. While no large amounts of water had penetrated the box, it seems as if condensation was the main culprit. The moisture corroded parts of the power control unit. We replaced the PCU with a new unit supplied to us free of charge by Kean Electronics. However, a full test of the unit was not possible as the light barrier and PIT tag antenna were still on site in Milford Sound. The inner works of the Harrison Cove transponder gate’s main control unit. A trip to Te Anau for a Tawaki Project public talk and an NZPI school presentation in early February (see below) was combined with a visit to Milford Sound to recover the required components and maintain the trap line surrounding the Harrison Cove tawaki colony. Once back in Dunedin, the system was put together in a test configuration and, after several days of trouble shooting the device was operating as intended again, with the invaluable help from Kean Electronics. The transponder gate was installed once more in Harrison Cove in the last week of February 2021. At this stage, an estimated 50% of the tawaki population had finished the annual moult already and left on their winter journeys. Nevertheless, there was ample sign on the main track into the breeding area to suggest ongoing penguin traffic. 4 NZ Penguin Initiative, Q1 2021 Report, Thomas Mattern & Richard Seed The fully operational transponder gate back in business on 22 February 2021. The system was installed at its previous location. Less than 30 minutes after the reboot of the unit, the first penguins crossed the transponder gate providing a successful test of the unit’s operational status. The first of two penguins to cross was male 982 000210215793, a bird that was last seen two years earlier when it was fitted with a satellite transmitter. The other bird 982 000365941856, also a male, was last seen in the colony at the beginning of the 2020 breeding season. Two male tawaki crossing the transponder gate shortly after installation; both birds were transponder tagged. Over the course of 18 days, a total of 13 different individual birds were identified by the transponder gate which represents 20% of the number of penguins (n=68) marked with transponders at the site since 2015. The transponder gate was removed for the winter on 11 March 2021 and will be redeployed in June in time for the penguins’ return from their winter migration. 5 NZ Penguin Initiative, Q1 2021 Report, Thomas Mattern & Richard Seed Milestone FP6 – Marine Ecology baseline information Analysis and publication of winter migration data We have started the comprehensive analysis of three years’ worth of tawaki winter tracking data recorded since 2018 using both satellite transmitters and geolocators. We are currently examining which factors govern the distribution of tawaki at sea, to which extent the birds are exposed to anthropogenic activities, and how the dispersal behaviour of birds moulting at traditional breeding sites (i.e. Fiordland) differs from that of penguins moulting along the Otago coast as well as in rehabilitation centres. Our data set consists of 6,197 at-sea locations recorded over three consecutive winters that provide us with one of the most comprehensive dispersal data sets of any crested penguin species. Over the course of this winter, we plan to produce two scientific papers based on these data. Preliminary results will be presented at the Oamaru Penguin Symposium in May 2021. Collated winter dispersal data from 2018 (yellow, satellite tracking), 2019 (green, geolocators) and 2020 (red, satellite tracking). A dedicated paper focussing on geolocator data has been submitted for publication by Cara-Paige Green from the University of Tasmania. The paper compares the non-breeding dispersal of tawaki and the closely related Snares penguin. The 2020 data set is also currently being used in a global meta-analysis conducted by the Movebank working group that analyses potential effects of world-wide lock downs due to the Covid-19 pandemic on animal migrations. 6 NZ Penguin Initiative, Q1 2021 Report, Thomas Mattern & Richard Seed General business – Media engagement Production of sequel to Netflix’s ‘Our Planet’ with the Tawaki Project In the past year, we have been approached by various film production companies that were researching opportunities to produce natural history documentaries in New Zealand. Probably the most prestigious company to reach out was Silverbacks Films, a production company led by the producers responsible for the extraordinarily successful BBC documentaries Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and Blue Planet. More recently, Silverbacks Films produced Our Planet, an 8-part nature documentary for the streaming platform Netflix. The company is currently working on a sequel to this series which is tentatively called Our Planet On The Move and will focus on the migratory behaviour of different animal species. Tawaki have been chosen to be one of the focal species for this series and the company currently plans join our team in Doubtful Sound for three weeks in late October and early November. We have been working with the producers on the required filming permit applications and had several online meetings to discuss several aspects of the production. South American documentary about Popi Garcia-Borboroglu and the Global Penguin Society NZPI advisory group member Popi Garcia-Borboroglu is currently subject of a film production in Argentina that documents his efforts and successes with the Global Penguin Society. There are plans for the production to also document Popi’s engagement with the