Little blue penguins starve to death at sea

ROSS GIBLIN/Dominion Post

STARVING BIRDS: Little blue penguins feed mainly on small fish species, squid and sea animals and fairly close to shore.

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Dozens of dead or dying little blue penguins have washed up on Waikato's west coast beaches and it appears they may have starved.

Conservation Department (DOC) biodiversity threats ranger Garry Hickman said 50 dead penguins were found along Kawhia to Port Waikato.

Sixteen dead birds were found at Kawhia late last week, by a former DOC staff member who is one of several members of the public who contacted the department.

"They've been washing ashore either dead, or moribund," Mr Hickman said. "It looks to be all sorts, male and female."

Mr Hickman said while it was too early to say exactly why the penguins had died, they were emaciated when found and early dissections of some birds had found their intestines empty. The birds had poorly developed pectoral muscles, also indicating lack of food.

Mr Hickman said it was unclear why the birds had starved, or were not eating, although it could be related to a lack of food species.

Recent weather patterns had generated large seas off New Zealand's west coast, which Mr Hickman said could be a factor.

Changes in water temperature, affecting availability of fish species, may also be a problem for younger penguins searching for food.

Little blue penguins feed mainly on small fish species, squid and sea animals and fairly close to shore.

Mr Hickman said it was unclear if a lack of food species would affect other seabird species.

While dead seabirds on beaches was not uncommon, Mr Hickman said members of the Kawhia community had not encountered so many dead penguins "in quite some time".

He expected more dead penguins would be found on more isolated parts of the Waikato's west coast.

Onewhero resident Dori Muir found six dead penguins and a dead seal pup on an isolated stretch of coast near Limestone Downs last week, where she and her husband had been camping with family. In the time they had been camping on the coast, they had not encountered such a number of dead penguins before.

Mrs Muir had been walking along the beach with her two grandchildren when they found the dead birds.

A Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry spokesperson said five birds had been sent away for further testing at an Auckland laboratory.

LITTLE BLUE PENGUINS

* The world's smallest species of penguin, also known as the korora or fairy penguin, is about 25cm tall and weighs up to 1 kilogram.

* Its plumage is slate-blue. It has a bright white belly and lacks any type of crest.

* Half of the penguin's feeding dives are no more than 2m below the water surface.

* Chicks leave the nests, normally along shorelines, between December and March.

* The species can have a chick mortality rate of up to 30 per cent.

- © Fairfax NZ News