Clearwater Wildlife Tours

16/01/2025

Thanks to the wonderful team at Dunedin Wildlife Hospital Mr Read seems to be on the mend. Also big thanks to Paula our guide who spotted him coming out of the ocean and struggling up the beach. She picked him up and dropped him of at The OPERA for assessment and they decided he needed to head to hospital.
Great team effort! 🥰 👏
We hope to see him back on the beach someday soon 🙏 🐧

16/01/2025

Hoiho/yellow-eyed penguins appear on our $5 note and are one of the rarest penguins in the world with only 143 known nests on mainland New Zealand.

Unfortunately, without a serious turnaround, scientists predict these penguins could become locally extinct on the mainland within two decades.

Seasonal nest counts across coastal Otago, Southland, and Rakiura show numbers are substantially down compared to previous years, with an ongoing decline of 80% since 2008/09.

Hoiho are facing multiple threats including disease, introduced predators, human disturbance, a significant shift in adult diet, fisheries bycatch, and marine predation.

Work to save hoiho includes predator control, monitoring nests, disease and injury treatment, starvation interventions and planting of native vegetation to restore hoiho habitat.

Hoiho are a taonga species for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and it is unthinkable that we could lose them – we don’t really know what impact that could have on the whole ecosystem.

The Hoiho Governance Group, including DOC, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, Ngāi Tahu, and Fisheries New Zealand, is working together to implement Te Kaweka Takohaka mō te Hoiho - a strategy for pulling hoiho back from the brink of extinction.

We need to collectively increase our capacity to support the hoiho to regain their rightful place on our beaches and in our moana.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3WhG9iR

📷: Brent Beaven/DOC

16/12/2024

On the 13th, our tour guides and guests were greeted by a rare and exciting presence at Papanui Beach... Sleeping soundly on a sand pillow was an elongated, grey, speckled creature - a juvenile male leopard seal/popoikore.
Unlike our locals - New Zealand sea lions/pakake, where the bulls are significantly larger than the cows, leopard seal males weigh up to 300 kg's and females weigh up to 500 kg's.
They are considered 'Native Residents' in New Zealand and spend most of their lives on pack ice in Antarctica. They are apex predators, whose unique dentition enables them to grip large prey with their caniniform teeth and suction small prey into their mouths, while expelling saltwater through a sieve formed by their postcanine teeth. Their sheer size and reptilian-like gape does present as threatening; however, we are not their prey, or of interest to them.
For positive and safe interactions, if you encounter a leopard seal, give them 20 meters space where possible, keep your dog on a leash - and enjoy being in the presence of a mighty master of the sea.

Photos: Sian Mair. Taken from a safe distance and zoomed in on. Teeth infographic: .

16/12/2024

Summer is here, and we invite you to make the most of it on a Clearwater Wildlife Tour!

We offer:
- Intimate tours of only up to 10 people.
- Friendly, knowledgeable and passionate guides, with a diversity of expertise.
- Viewing of two of the world's rarest species: yellow-eyed penguins/hoiho and New Zealand sea lions/pakake; and a variety of other species, including New Zealand fur seals/kekeno and sea birds.
- Access to privately owned land on the breathtaking Eastern-most point of the Otago Peninsula.
- A family operated business, rooted in rich history.

What are you waiting for?

Photos: Sian Mair. Taken from a safe distance and zoomed in on.

29/11/2024

🥰 We have babies! 🥰

To celebrate we are giving away 4 & maybe more free tickets.
💚💚💚💚

We are celebrating the birth of the first newborn baby NZ fur seal pups yesterday and we sighted 6 more today!

These little guys are super cute! You gotta melt at their big dishy eyes, tiny ears and button nose. They now make last years new born look like giants!

If you are keen to see these wee cuties, lots of wildlife, NZ Sea lions, a very good chance of seeing yellow eyed penguins & some spectacular scenery please give us a creative comment and let us know how much you would love to join.

Tour is at 4.30pm - 8.30pm (tomorrow) Saturday 30th November. Your team must have a reasonable level of fitness as this tour is not suitable for people with walking disabilities or children under 5 years old. Must wrap up warm and are welcome to bring snacks to eat in our van as we are often not back till late. 🙌

Photo credit: Craig McKenzie
Seal point, Cape Saunders Farm Dec 2023

23/11/2024

🥰OMG SO CUTE 🥰
Watch till the end 🥹

23/11/2024

We are celebrating!!!
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
100 x 5 star reviews!!!

We are absolutely thrilled to get this feedback and I am so proud of my team of 12! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

They are smashing it out of the beach! 🌊 🥇 (sorry it’s not a park) 😂

Big thanks to Eric our Ops Manager for assisting with all the hours and hours of training and content work that’s gone into our new guides. 🤗

If you are still reading we are giving away some free tickets to celebrate so if you are a wildlife lover and follow our page let us know if your keen to join a tour tomorrow Sunday at 11.00am or 4.00pm or any other time.

We will select some wild comments and message you to see if you’re keen.

❤️🐧 ❤️🌴 ❤️🦭 ❤️
Thanks to everyone for your support likes and shares 🥰

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

18/11/2024

It was an absolute pleasure to gift a tour to Anna and her family this week. 🥰

Thank you for the beautiful comments Anna and amazing pics. 🤩 🙏

It really touched our hearts to know how much this meant to you and it made me cry reading this! 😭

If anyone out there is experiencing tough times and needs some time out with nature please contact me through our website.

We often have empty seats and we would love to have any wildlife / nature lovers on board for a free space.

You need to have a reasonable level of fitness to do our tour but if this is an obstacle we can accommodate this issue if forewarned.

Thank you again She Hunts Op Shops for sharing your joy 🥰 🐧 🦭 🌴

11/11/2024

I was very emotional today after reading and responding to some of our recent reviews! 🥹🤩

Thank you to everyone who has supported our new venture and to my amazing team of very talented guides! Special thanks to Dad & Tim for all their generosity of time and effort.

✨ Our 2024 / 2025 Guides ✨
Eric, Sian, Paula, Ben, Tom, Fergus, Kelly, Lisa, Darcy (back in the US but not for long) and soon to be joining us is Gareth.
Photo coming soon... when we can get everyone in the same paddock! 😆

LIKELY TO SELL OUT* Clearwater Wildlife - Small Guided Tours (10 max) Otago Peninsula96Eco Tours4 hoursFewer People. More Wildlife. A chance to see Yellow-eyed Penguins, NZ sea lions, NZ fur seals, Albatross and a wide variety… Free cancellationNot sure? You can cancel this booking up to 24 hours ...

10/11/2024

Please support the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital 🥰🐧🥰

Well, that escalated quickly!!! 😱🐣🐧

We started the day with 44 hoiho chicks in care, and expect that number to rise to 77 chicks PLUS another very special batch of eggs (more on this soon!) by the end of the day. 📈

To help the vet team care for these penguin chickies, we're launching our 2024 Baby Shower in hopes to raise $30,000 during handrearing season - that's just 10% of our annual hoiho budget.

Can you help? Every contribution helps, and any donation over $5 qualifies for a tax receipt. Two easy ways to give:

1️⃣ Bank transfer 12-3150-0161217-00 (please include your email address so we can get you a receipt!)

2️⃣ Debit or credit card on our secure giving page https://www.wildlifehospitaldunedin.org.nz/donate

19/10/2024

Edit- We have a winner. See comment below 🏆

How many YEP can you see?
Correct answers go into the draw to win that many (?) free tickets to our Wild One Tour 🐧 🥰

11/10/2024

We are as happy as this Hoiho to see the sun and we also have a spring in our step now that we are back in business after a very wet and wild week.

Luckily we didn’t have any damage out at the farm but we couldn’t get access out there because of the damage to the public roads that still a bit of a mess.

We hope everyone in Dunedin is recovering and enjoying our beautiful weather. 🌞 🐧 🦭 🥰