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Monday 9am - 8pm Tuesday 9am - 8pm Wednesday 9am - 8pm Thursday 9am - 8pm Friday 9am - 8pm Saturday 9am - 8pm Sunday 9am - 8pm

Pōhatu Penguins/plunge

Name: Pōhatu Penguins/plunge
Address: Unit 3, 8 Rue Balguerie, Akaroa, 7520, NZ
Telephone: +6433048542
Price range: $$
Rating: 4.9

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Pōhatu Penguins/plunge

Pōhatu Penguins offers many tour options to see and experience the largest colony of Little penguin

Pōhatu Penguins is a family- owned and operated eco- tourism business with 30+ years history of advocating and helping to fund the protection of Kororā (Little Penguin) on the family farm in Pōhatu/Flea Bay. Our guides are all conservationists, friends and family - with years of working in penguin conservation, a passion for sharing their stories and a wealth of local knowledge passed down several

generations. When the Helps family first began their conservation work the penguins faced massive challenges that threatened their very existence. These challenges included predation via introduced predators such as dogs, cats, ferrets and stoats, gill net fishing and other human disturbances. Colonies around Banks Peninsula declined at an alarming rate and most disappeared altogether. Through predator trapping, monitoring, rehabilitation and immense dedication the family has stabilized the Pōhatu colony and it grew for many years to become the largest of its kind on mainland New Zealand! In addition to their penguin conservation work the Helps family have also, for many years, protected native forests and other endemic species. Their work helped found the award-winning Wildside Conservation Project. To this day, the family continues to be leader in conservation and have recently received the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of their work. Their efforts continue to be funded via Pōhatu Penguins’ tours so when purchasing a tour, clients have a positive input on our little Kororā. Small group tours run from Akaroa over one of the most scenic back country roads by 4WD van to Pōhatu/ Flea Bay and Pōhatu marine reserve, a beautiful sheltered bay out on the wild south eastern corner of Banks Peninsula and home to the largest Little Penguin Colony on mainland New Zealand with over 1500 penguins breeding there.

25/12/2024

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from the entire Pōhatu team including our special friends from around the bay!

If you're heading off on your summer roadie, please be safe and take extra care as you travel around Aotearoa this festive season. 💙

23/12/2024

We recently welcomed some wonderful volunteers from HEB Construction who helped out big time with our Pōhatu thistle problem.

The Scottish and California thistles are taking over and we don't want to use sprays around our penguin breeding habitat. It's been a huge help for us to have amazing volunteers like Tammy, Shania and Elisa, to grub the prickly problem out of the ground for us!

Thank you to the HEB Construction team for sending such fantastic volunteers our way! 😊

20/12/2024

A friendly reminder for the summer - In a Marine Reserve the speed limit for boats and water craft is 5 knots when within 200 meters of the shore. 🚤

When you see a wake of white water in a line, it's a clear sign the boat is travelling faster than 5 knots - so it's easy to see if someone is breaking these rules.

Last season we found 2 beautiful penguins that have been hit by boats and had to be taken to South Island Wildlife Hospital for treatment.

This can be easily avoided if people simply slow down and enjoy their surroundings and wildlife.

18/12/2024

Last week, Geraldine spotted this fur seal chilling out on our penguin tour walking track as she was placing new adoption labels around the colony. 🦭

This guy looked quite content napping with his head on the footpath. Fortunately, nap time was over and he was gone by the time we had visitors.

Young males or bachelors are quite often hanging out near the beach as they are not mature enough to have their own harem. They are often seen by the water practising their fighting skills or just having a big nap on the rocks!

If you come across seals onshore over the summer period, remember to stay at least 20 meters away and give them their space.

15/12/2024

Say hello to Pango - our Pōhatu lamb of the season! 🐑

The first pure Valais Blacknose ewe lamb born in Pōhatu, Pango doesn't quite have the colour markings Shireen was expecting. Pango turned out to be what we called a "spitty" - Pango's parents must have very strong black genes!

Pango is the sweetest lamb you can dream of: cuddly, friendly, funny - and definitely a favourite with our visitors!

13/12/2024

Many wonder if Little penguins are as loyal as we think. Well, here is the start of an answer...

Among 77 nests with marked (microchipped) penguins this season, 22 have the same breeding pair as last year. For the 55 other nests, there is either a new partner or there is a different breeding pair nesting in it. Quite a bit of movement in our colony!

In nest A33, the male is breeding with a new female partner this season... until we saw the female from last season coming to have a turn at incubating the eggs!

The next few weeks, the new female partner was back to guard the chicks. This clever multiple parenting style might be something common for our White-flippered penguins, no drama... It takes a colony to raise a chick! 🐣

12/12/2024

The mission of our Helps Pōhatu Conservation Trust is to protect and preserve the rich environmental heritage of Pōhatu and Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū/ Banks peninsula, from the land to the sea. 🌊

We do this through a number of initiatives and actives including; providing habitat, penguin rehabilitation, monitoring the colony, tracking, trapping pests, eduction and much more.

Learn more about our conservation efforts and how you can help here - www.pohatu.co.nz/Trust.html

📸 = Julie Chandelier

10/12/2024

Last winter, we were thrilled to learn that Rachel had been offered to join an exciting scientific mission... in Antarctica!

Rachel left late October for a month on the big icy continent where she has been deploying GPS on Emperor penguin. Here are a few photos that Rachel has been able to share since she has returned to Scott Base where she is still currently based, waiting for the next flight back to New Zealand.

The whole team is super excited to hear all about her freezing adventures once she returns to Pōhatu bay!

09/12/2024

Our Pōhatu School Holiday Programmes are back for the summer with January dates now open for bookings!

Get all the details through our Facebook event pages and if interested please contact Joey Cataliotti on: [email protected] or by phone 021 0866 2140 💙

08/12/2024

The spring season has wrapped and we're looking forward to an awesome summer here in Akaroa and the bays!

Find our spring highlights in our latest Pōhatu newsletter here - https://tinyurl.com/5n7z2tu

07/12/2024

Looking for a meaningful and unique gift for your loved one this Christmas? Why not consider gifting a penguin adoption through our Pōhatu Adopt a Penguin programme?

Adopting a penguin in the Pōhatu colony is like a sponsorship, a donation towards our charity “Helps Pōhatu Conservation Trust” which goes towards...

🐧 Nesting box materials for penguins and other native wildlife
🐧 Penguin Rehabilitation: Penguin food, Vet bills, Rehabilitation facility maintenance.
🐧 Predator control: Materials and maintenance, Trappers wage.
🐧 Reforestation of Pohatu’s covenants, Protected zones, Planting trees and track building.
🐧 Research projects.
🐧 Education for school groups.
🐧 Staff training, e.g. trapping workshops, penguin symposium, rehabilitation workshops.

In exchange, you will receive a photo of the nesting box with the name you have chosen on it, receive updates (on demand) and a newsletter at each season.

Because you are donating to a registered charity, you will receive a tax rebate for your donation.

Find out more and start your adoption here - http://tinyurl.com/5w8225ff

📸 = Julie Chandelier

03/12/2024

A few shots from our recent Sea Kayaking Safari around Pōhatu and the bays! 🛶🌊☀

It's such a lovely time to be out on the water exploring the coastline, caves and of course all the wonderful marine wildlife - including these jellyfish that we spotted during the tour. 🪼

01/12/2024

The Kanuka is exploding with flowers at the moment and the whole bay smells amazing! Imagine a delicious mix of tea tree and honey fragrance. 🍯

It's like snow covering the trees but instead gorgeous flowers.

30/11/2024

Check out these two post guard chicks living in the nest box the Conservation Club school holiday programme kids built! 🐧🐧

Many of the chicks in the Pōhatu colony are now at the post guard stage - meaning Mum and Dad leave them during the day to go fishing. They bring back a crop full of kai (food) to the nest and regurgitate to these fast growing chicks.

It won't be long before their blue feathers start showing through! 💙

25/11/2024

Help our friends at A la baguette name their two new adopted penguins!

Thank you for your amazing support for our special little penguins.🐧 💙 🐧

24/11/2024

We spotted this little penguin hanging out in a natural loafing spot during our recent penguin survey. 🐧

When they’re not busy fishing at sea, these little guys love to find a cozy nook to rest and recharge. 💙

23/11/2024

We've spent a few years planting harakeke flax around Pōhatu bay to help stop erosion.

Did you know harakeke's extensive root system helps stabilise soil and prevent erosion? - It also looks really lovely!

21/11/2024

This little guy was recently found on one of our tracks around Pōhatu. The poor young chick was shivering cold and exposed.

Villa, our trapper couldn't work out where it came from. The chick is only around 1 week old, so she couldn't just leave it there. It either went on walkabout which is strange for such a tiny chick, or it was possibly dragged out of its nest by a predator.

Villa bought the chick into rehab and lucky she had found the little guy when she did, as the weather turned nasty and we even had hail. We named it Brightlord Reshi after a Stormlight Archive book character.

Brightlord Reshi is doing really well now with Christchurch penguin rehab, who we work closely with. They can take care of the very tiny chicks and eventually Reshi will come back to us at Pōhatu! 💙

Address

Unit 3, 8 Rue Balguerie
Akaroa
7520

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 8pm
Tuesday	9am - 8pm
Wednesday	9am - 8pm
Thursday	9am - 8pm
Friday	9am - 8pm
Saturday	9am - 8pm
Sunday	9am - 8pm

Telephone

+6433048542

Website

http://www.pohatu.co.nz/

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Videos

Some of our crazy penguins seem to love nesting right next to the creek. Not ideal if we have a lot of rain and it floods. Let's hope we don't have any huge rainfall events in the middle of the penguin breeding season!

One stick just wasn't enough! These penguins must be the ultimate nest building champions with the amount of sticks they collected. What's more impressive is that there isn't any trees around the nest, so he must have carried the sticks up all the way up the hill!

This particular penguin nest has hit the jackpot with highly sort after cliff side ocean views! 🌊🐧💙

Finding penguin nests 100 metres above sea level overlooking Pōhatu bay! 🐧🌊 💙

For those hard to reach nests, we use cameras to see just how many penguins are at home and record this for our survey. 📹

Penguins, chicks and bunnies oh my! 🐧🐣🐰 The things we found under the wool shed during the penguin survery will make your day! Our giggles were a bit loud, but the penguins living under here are used to very loud activities happening above them - like sharing sheep, music and bleating lambs.

When surverying our Pōhatu penguin colony, we use a little torch or burrow scope to see what, or who, is in the nest. 🐧 This information is then logged into an app on our phones for the most up to date and accurate data on our precious penguins!

At 190 metres above sea level, this was one of the highest penguin nests on this year's survey of the Pōhatu colony. Here's our dedicated Lucy collecting a sample of penguin poop for her PhD!

Pōhatu Penguin Survey Story Time!

🐧 Pōhatu Penguin Survey Story Time! 🎥 Ave heard Jess yelling that she had found a very vocal active nest in a lava tunnel and she sounded a bit weirded out by it. Ave couldn't get up to the nest as she was stuck under a bluff below in the densest bush Pōhatu had to offer. Jess took this video to share with Ave who got very excited because it definitely didn't sound like korora, she wondered if it could be Titi. We then sent the video to Rach who found some Titi calls online and it was pretty spot on! We have now placed a trail cam next to the lava tunnel which will start recording with any movement - day or night. Hopefully we can share some updates and cool videos of whatever is creating that sound....

Watch this funny moment from our recent Kororā survey here in Pōhatu. 🎥 Dense Bush makes it really hard for us to find active nest sites. Kororā are tiny and live under it - so where they go, we go! 😆

Take a 60-second bird's eye view at our ongoing nest survey! Every 4 years we search the entire bay for kororā nests. You'll see our hardworking volunteers moving in transect lines (straight lines that cut directly across the land) for each chunk of the survey area. This is to ensure that we methodically search each section and minimise chances of missing a burrow. Of course, some of the terrain is easier to cross than others -- there are plenty of steep cliff sides and thick bush for our teams to traverse as they search.

📽 Learn all about our Adopt a Penguin programme and how your support can make a big difference to the little penguins in our Pōhatu colony. 🐧

Shortcuts

Our Story

Pohatu Penguins is a family-run business with a long standing history of protecting the Korora (Little Penguin). The colony survival is accredited to Shireen and Francis Helps who have cared for the penguins for 30+ years.

When the Helps first began their conservation work the penguins faced massive challenges that threatened their very existence. These challenges included predation via introduced predators such as dogs, cats, ferrets and stoats, gill net fishing and other human disturbances. Colonies around Banks Peninsula declined at an alarming rate and most disappeared altogether. Through predator trapping, monitoring, rehabilitation and immense dedication the Helps have stabilized the Pohatu Colony - and it continues to grow! In addition to their penguin conservation work the Helps family have also, for many years, protected native forests and other endemic species. Their work helped found the award-winning Wildside Conservation Project.

To this day, the family continues to be leaders in conservation and the efforts continue to be fully self-funded via Pohatu Penguins’ tours.

When purchasing a tour you have a positive input on our little Korora.

Coast Up Close
7520