LIVING Hawke’s Bay is all about the Bay, so what is the Bay without our local gannet colony? These magnificent sea birds head to our shores every year over the spring and summer months to nest before heading off to their next destination. Gannet Safaris Overland offers tourists and locals an up-closeand- personal glimpse of these beautiful creatures.
Along Hawke’s Bay’s most southeastern point lies the glorious peninsula known as Cape Kidnappers, home to over 20,000 Australasian gannets, with a nesting history leading back to the 1870s. They are an Australasian gannet, so they’re only found here in New Zealand and Australia.
Gannet Safaris Overland, established in Hawke’s Bay in the 1960s, began as a unique way to view the region’s gannet colony. The gannets at Cape Kidnappers are part of theworld’s largest mainland gannet colony, a rare occurrence as gannets typically breed on isolated islands. Their choice to nest on the mainland adds to the uniqueness of this natural spectacle, offering an extraordinary opportunity to observe these striking birds up close in their natural habitat.
Gannets are fascinating birds for several reasons. Firstly for their striking appearance: sleek white bodies, yellowish heads and black-tipped wings and stunning features, with golden crowns and piercing blue eyes. They’re quite big birds, having an almost two metre wingspan while standing about 40 centimeters in height.
Gannets are monogamous, forming lifelong bonds with their mates and performing intricate greeting rituals. Their unique choice to breed in large, noisy colonies, often on cliffs or even on mainland sites like Cape Kidnappers, adds to their allure.
Their loyalty to their colony sees them return to it every year for life. The birds are known to be very healthy, with no natural factors being a threat to them, they often only die of old age.
Most gannets will not breed until they are around four to five years old, and the chicks will make their maiden flight at merely fifteen weeks old. While you may think it wise to have a wee flying lesson before plunging off the cliff, when these confident chicks actually take to the air for their maiden flight, they carry on flying to Australia non-stop! This five-to-eight-day ordeal mostly lands them in Tasmania, where they will remain for three to four years. While the chicks go off on their OE just before winter, the parents simply migrate up the coast to the North Cape.
Gannets are also known for their dramatic hunting technique, known as plunge diving. They soar high above the ocean, spot fish, then dive at speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour, with air pockets on their foreheads, necks and breasts to cushion these extreme dives, piercing the water like arrows. This allows them to catch fish far below the surface.
In 1938, The Evening Post newspaper reported that a gannet had dived on a stationary ambulance with such force that it pierced and punched out a one-inch piece of glass from the windscreen. The bird lay stunned and still beside the ambulance, and they feared the worst for the bird. However, after a short time to gather its thoughts, it simply got up and flew away.
Gannet Safaris Overland provide tourists with the ability to view these beautiful birds each year from September to April as they return to nest. Whilst the gannets are the main focus, the tours include information on local history, Māori legends, geology and more.
Visitors can get as close as five metres of the largest gannet colony in the world as they nest before migration. Doing so in the most environmentally friendly way possible, being one of the only groups with access to this area, “We leave no footprints, we just go out there and we come back. And we’re very conscious of conservation. We work closely with the Cape Sanctuary, and the birds are protected by the Department of Conservation,” said Sophie Phillips.
The company ensures a comfortable experience through the use of four-wheel drive buses travelling through farmland to reach the colony. The threehour tour begins at the safari’s base in Te Awanga.
Guests are then driven through scenic coastlines, farms and bush before reaching the plateau that sits 100 metres up from the Pacific Ocean. The breathtaking view out to Mahia Peninsula and looking back to Napier, alongside the company of approximately 20,000 gannets, is the rewarding entertainment of the journey.
This year Gannet Safaris Overland are starting their tour season on a high after being awarded one of the top fifteen attractions in the world for family friendly activities by TripAdvisor. Being the only organisation in New Zealand to make this list, they have also received the title of the Tourism Export Council (TECNZ) Small Allied Operator of the Year.
Gannet Safaris have partnered with Cape Sanctuary in Ocean Beach, providing tours throughout the Ocean Beach Wildlife Sanctuary all year round, offering private and group tours to the sanctuary.Many of the tour guides are retired local farmers and orchardists with an extensive knowledge on the Hawke’s Bay region and its history Sophie Phillips, general manager of Gannet Safaris Overland says, “Cape Kidnappers is more than just gannets. The Cape Sanctuary has been working since 2006 to make the cape predator-free and create a space for native wildlife to thrive, and through this, teaching visitors about the restoration and regeneration of the Cape Kidnappers peninsula.”
The company recently introduced a donation programme to offset their carbon footprint. Giving guests the option to donate towards the Cape Sanctuary at Ocean Beach. Over the two years this option has been available, almost $10,000 has been raised.
The gannets, with their amazing features, have created an opportunity for us to observe their lifestyle, while having our own adventure. How great to be able to share the beautiful encounter with these birds and to have access to one of New With a two-metre wingspan, Zealand’s many wonders. LHB
