Bay Harbour: December 16, 2020

0 ENVIRONMENT
LPC UPDATE December 2020
ena the conservation dog
Alastair and Mena
were able to locate
20 penguin nests
around the harbour,
including this little
penguin pictured.
As part of LPC’s Biodiversity
Positive strategy we’re focused
on being a good neighbour,
not only to the community,
but also to the animals of
conservation significance we
share the environment with.
The seawalls around the Port are a great
habitat for white-flippered penguins and this
time of year they can often be found onshore
laying eggs and raising chicks.
They breed only on Banks Peninsula and
Motunau Island and are considered to be the
one and only indigenous creature unique to
Canterbury, New Zealand.
LPC’s Head of Sustainability and
Environment Kim Kelleher says we want to
make sure we keep our feathered friends safe
while they’re on land so every year we do a
full survey of our coastal sea walls to locate
the nest sites and protect them.
We have a special helper to do that - Mena
the conservation dog and her trainer Alastair
were back at LPC recently to locate any
penguins that may be nesting in the seawalls
around the Port.
The pair are from the Kaikōura Ocean
Research Institute and work together to
track penguins through a keen sense of smell
as well as visual indicators that suggest the
presence of white-flippered penguins.
Alastair and Mena were able to locate 20
penguin nests around the Port, including this
little penguin pictured.
“One of the main things we can all do to
help protect the white-flippered penguins is
to have good predator control (ferrets, feral
cats and stoats) and keep our domestic pets,
cats and dogs away from the coastal strip
during the nesting season,” says Kim.
“As part of our biodiversity positive
approach, we value nature and support and
protect the special wildlife we share the
harbour with.”
Find out more about our biodiversitypositive
goals at lpc.co.nz/community/
environment/biodiversity.
“Lyttelton Harbour/
Whakaraupō is used
or visited by at least
42 species of marine
birds including the
white-flippered
penguin, shags, and
black billed gull.”