By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Kaikōura’s little penguins now have some protection from predators with a fenced off nesting area. Photo: David Hill / North Canterbury News
Kaikōura's little penguins face multiple threats, but local community efforts have provided a penguin sanctuary.
There are thought to be about 20 breeding pairs of little penguins in a colony beside Kaikōura's South Bay Harbour.
The colony has been fenced off and the penguins are able to access the nesting area via a tunnel.
The Kaikōura Ocean Research Institute (KORI) has been leading the project and director Dr Jody Weir said the little penguins faced threats from dogs, cats, hedgehogs, rats and humans.
''We had dogs running through the nesting area. The dogs like the penguins because they squeak.
''People just being curious can be a threat in opening up nest boxes and having a look, and when you have fireworks going off the penguins often won't come in that night.''
In the busy harbour area, penguins could get killed at sea, on the road or under houses, so giving them an enclosed area provided some protection.
She said there have been reports of penguins nesting along the coast.
KORI hired a Department of Conversation certified penguin detection dog named Mena to do a search along a 70km stretch of coastline from Waipapa Bay to Conway River.
But Mena was unable to find any signs of other nesting sites.
''We didn't know what we would find post-quake,'' Weir said.
''There were a couple of other places where there might have been one or two burrows, but it has confirmed that the South Bay population is important.''
It made it all the more important to protect the South Bay little penguins before they too were wiped out.
Grants from the Kaikōura District Council and Ryman Healthcare allowed KORI to install marine grade fencing, with Kaikōura's two Lions clubs also pitching in.
''It is nothing fancy. I think a cat could get over it and a person could climb over it, but it is a deterrent,'' Weir said.
Volunteers used trapping inside the enclosure to catch any predators which did get inside.
Instead of producing signs telling people what not to do, KORI invited local school children to design some signage.
Kaikōura school children have illustrated the life cycle of little penguins. Photo: David Hill / North Canterbury News
The result was some artwork of penguins and a billboard giving a cartoon story of the life cycle of a penguin.
An official opening was planned in March 2020, but it never eventuated due to Covid.
''The colony is now doing really well,'' Weir said.
''We have school groups visit and the signs are holding up really well.
''Has it magically solved the problem? No! Has the colony improved as a result of what we did? Maybe, maybe not.''
Indications were the 2021/22 breeding season was successful, so Weir was looking forward to seeing the results of this breeding season.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air