Fluttering shearwaters heading for a new home on Matiu/Somes

Media release

Date: 09 January 2011

Fluttering shearwaters heading for a new home on Matiu/Somes


Up to 80 fluttering shearwater (Puffinus gavia) will be translocated to Matiu/Somes Island on Tuesday to establish a colony on the Wellington Harbour island.

The project managed by the Matiu/Somes Charitable Trust and the Kaitiaki Board with support from the Department of Conservation, will see the chicks arriving from Long Island in the Marlborough Sounds where it’s estimated several thousand breeding pairs live. Fluttering shearwaters are common to Wellington Harbour but haven’t bred there since pre European times. They were once an important food source for local iwi.

“This is another exciting phase in the ecological restoration of the island”, said Project Manager Shane Cotter of the Matiu/Somes Charitable Trust.

Burrowing seabird species provide significant nutrients for terrestrial ecosystems, and habitat (burrows) for invertebrates and reptiles. Several species have been reintroduced to the island, including Cook Strait giant weta, forest geckos, Wellington green geckos, ornate skinks, Brothers Island tuatara, red crowned kākāriki and the North Island robin. The success of re-introductions of other plants, reptiles and invertebrates species may be dependent on burrowing seabirds being present.

This translocation follows a similar successful operation on Mana Island between 2006 - 2009. It will take 3-4 days to collect the chicks from Long Island from where they will be transported to new artificial burrows at the southern end of Matiu/Somes. The young chicks will be hand fed for the first few weeks until they become imprinted with their new island home. Within six weeks they will all fledge and go to sea for 4 or 5 years before returning to the island to breed.

The birds are due to arrive around 3 p.m. on Tuesday by helicopter, accompanied by a Te Ati Awa kaumātua from Marlborough. A pōwhiri will be conducted by kaumātua from Taranaki Whanui who will be accompanied by a group from Waiwhetu Marae (on the island for a taiaha wānanga). This will be followed by a handover of the birds to Taranaki Whanui.

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