It is too early to say whether a slip on Otago Peninsula has affected a population of the world’s smallest penguin.
A slip at Pilots Beach, near the mouth of Otago Harbour, following this month’s rain event has fallen across a little blue penguin reserve and wiped out up to 50 nesting boxes at the height of breeding season.
Blue Penguins Pukekura kaitiaki manager Hayden Coote said it probably the worst time of year the slip could have happened.
"We’ll see what nesting boxes, if any, we can salvage out of the area."
An early estimate suggested between 25-50 of the sanctuary’s 350 nesting boxes had been covered by the slip and about three years’ worth of plantings had been uprooted.
"This could have a significant effect this year ... It’ll just mean that the population doesn’t increase like it has over the last few years."
Debris had fallen across a popular nesting area for the penguins, he said.
"Along the beach access, that’s probably one of the more heavily densely populated areas within the reserve, and it’s a nice, easy walk for them to get to the boxes there."
It would be up to the penguins if nests were re-established in the same spots, Mr Coote said.
"It does get hard trying to move them around somewhere else if they’re settled in somewhere. It’ll just be a matter of seeing what those ones that were in that area decide to do when they start coming back in again."
"During that whole weather period, I think they’ve just decided that it just might not be the year and just upped and walked away."
There had been a steady increase in the penguin population over the past five years, from about 200 breeding pairs five years ago to 320 pairs this season.
In dispersing the penguins, the slip also had a large effect on the sanctuary’s tour operations — the proceeds of which would fund the restoration of the site.
"Hopefully, there’s still enough tourism operation to still provide a pretty good-quality tour to visitors coming along," he said.
