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Erin Johnson/Stuff
A Waiheke resident is concerned the lighter coloured rocks placed on the seawall at Kennedy Point, Waiheke Island on Wednesday, August 16 may be blocking the exit of nesting kororā, little penguins.
A Waiheke Island resident is worried rocks placed by a nesting site at the Kennedy Point Marina on Wednesday may have trapped nesting kororā, little penguins.
But a company director refutes the claim, saying the company has worked closely with the Department of Conservation (DOC) to ensure rocks are positioned away from penguin sites.
Resident Helen Fuller says she regularly monitors kororā activity in the construction area and said rocks have been placed over a site where she had recently heard kororā and that she heard calls coming from beneath the newly placed rocks on Wednesday evening.
She has asked DOC for the top rocks to be removed so that if the kororā are trapped they can get out.
However, Kennedy Point Marina director Kitt Littlejohn said the site was checked for kororā before rock work was carried out on Wednesday.
He said no rocks were placed on any nest sites, and no kororā are trapped.
“Our ecologists and a DOC representative were on site yesterday all morning doing our monthly monitoring,” Littlejohn said.
“They found three active burrows with eggs along the breakwater. None of these locations were where rocks were placed. The rocks were placed in two small areas near the road to reinstate the breakwater following completion of works.”
Abigail Dougherty
Kennedy Point Marina has resource consent to construct a marina at Pūtiki Bay, Waiheke Island.
DOC’s Auckland operations director, Andrew Baucke, said a DOC ecologist and the developer’s ecologists inspected the area adjacent to and underneath the wharf where the rocks were subsequently placed.
He said penguins that are not nesting go out to feed during the day and return to the area at night, and that the rocks would not “negatively impact” the kororā.
“There were no active burrows or penguins in residence at the location where the rocks were placed that afternoon.
“It is possible that they explored the changes to the area on the evening of the 16 August. If they were to navigate under the new rock pile, they would have done that of their own accord, and therefore they would have been able to exit.”
Baucke said kororā calling at night is part of their usual behaviour.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Protectors from the Protect Pūtiki on Waiheke are making a stand against the construction of Kennedy Point Marina.
Community concern has been heightened for the kororā that nest in the seawall since construction began on the marina in April 2021.
In previous years, work on the rock wall has been completed before the start of the breeding season.
The developer’s ecological consultant, Dr Leigh Bull, has previously told Stuff that from the end of April to the end of June is the best time to work on the rock wall because it is non-breeding season, when penguins stay away feeding during the day.
Once the breeding season starts, burrows are likely to be permanently occupied if an egg is being incubated.
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