The Department of Conservation (Doc) and Otago Peninsula Trust staff were yesterday celebrating the arrival of a new, as-yet unnamed chick at the weekend.
The chick would be the focus for Doc’s "Royal cam", the live-streaming web camera that shot northern royal albatross Moana to internet stardom last year.
The live coverage of Moana’s progress attracted more than 600,000 views online last year, until she fledged and flew away in September.
But, since November 12, the camera has been focused on a new egg and the unwavering attention of two parents, father BK and mother RBK.
The couple’s efforts were rewarded when their egg hatched — with the help of an incubator — on Saturday night.
Otago Peninsula Trust marketing manager Sophie Barker said the chick had been returned to the nest and was "doing well so far", but its gender was not yet known and it was also yet to be named.
Moana was named after a competition, including a public poll, but any decision on repeating the exercise would be made only after the new chick survived its first month, she said.
"The first few weeks for chicks are a bit fraught," Ms Barker said.
Doc threatened species ambassador Nicola Toki was hoping for the best for the new chick yesterday, and said "all going well" the camera would follow its progress for the next eight months.
"We’ve all got our fingers crossed as this little bird faces a whole raft of challenges in its first months, including extremes of weather, reliance on both its parents ... as well as vulnerability to stoats and other pests."
The new arrival was among 10 chicks to have hatched so far this season, as rangers continued to work 12-hour days looking after 26 nests.
"We’re still waiting for the rest to hatch," Ms Barker said.
