A new nature photo safari tour operation taking in the Otago Peninsula, Otago Harbour and their coastlines has been launched, with a view to expanding further afield.
The Southern Nature Photo Safari had been started by long-established Dunedin maritime operator, Monarch Wildlife Cruises and Tours, Monarch co-owner Neil Harraway said.
''We have an ideal location with a unique collection of southern animals, spectacular landscapes, dramatic weather and wonderful light . . . to photograph the animals of New Zealand's wildlife capital,'' Mr Harraway said.
The ''boutique photographic tours'' included Monarch cruises and also 4WD excursions around the peninsula, access to private property and hides, with differing summer and winter tours.
The winter tour from April to September will be an all-day photo safari, starting with breakfast at St Clair Beach, then visits to peninsula beaches, bays and inlets, a Monarch cruise, a visit to the private Penguin Place conservation reserve at Pipikaretu Beach, then Pilots Beach, returning to city accommodation by 7.30pm.
In summer there will be a choice of two tours; the first at sunrise with exclusive access to a beach-front hide at Penguin Place to watch yellow-eyed penguins going to sea, then at sunset, watching the night-time arrival of little blue penguins at Pilots Beach, below Taiaroa Head lighthouse, just inside the harbour mouth.
Mr Harraway or Paul Donovan will guide the tours, both having worked for decades at TVNZ's Natural History Unit (then NHNZ), as producer/director and cameraman respectively, filming wildlife documentaries for Discovery Channel, National Geographic and other American, British, German, French, Japanese and Chinese TV channels.
Mr Harraway said all the tours would tie into Monarch's popular wildlife cruise around Taiaroa Head where northern royal albatrosses and other species nested.
''Then [the tours will go] out to sea where several albatross species, petrels, seals, dolphins and other oceanic animals range freely,'' he said.
The safari tours would initially be available for up to three people in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, exploring the Otago Peninsula and harbour, and would then expand in size and cover more of New Zealand's wild south.
''The tours can also have access to private properties with hides positioned to photograph birds close by,'' he said.
The all-day winter tour costs $900 for a single person, or $600 each for two to three people, while the summer sunrise and sunset tours were similarly priced.
He said about 70% of the Monarch's visitors were from overseas, and expected that with the huge interest in wildlife photography, particularly from the United States and Asia, the new tours would appeal most to international tourists.
While the tours were still in the development stage, he was considering offering two to four-day tours, anywhere ''south of the Waitaki River and Mt Cook''.
''If we find people are keen then we'll make up a southern itinerary for them.''
Mr Harraway said since he bought the now 30-year-old Monarch business in mid 2013, he had been encouraged to launch the safaris by numerous inquiries and by tourism experts reporting growing interest in boutique photographic tours.
'' I've seen the opportunity to cater more fully to the many keen photographers and nature watchers who travel here.''
