The chicks were likely blown from their nests on Sumpter Wharf during last week’s heavy rain and wind, Dunedin-based researcher Dr Chris Lalas said. The birds, likely 6-8 weeks old, could neither fly nor feed, but hopefully the youngsters might not be doomed to starve.
Otago shags feed their young for a month or two after they fledge and the birds could move from their nests and still be fed.
"Their parents have the ability to feed them if they find them," Dr Lalas said.
Last month, Dr Lalas, who has monitored the birds since 1977, confirmed that Oamaru’s Otago shag colony was both the northernmost and the largest colony of the species. Otago shags began nesting on the 200m-long Sumpter Wharf in Oamaru Harbour in 2014 — a decade after it was closed to traffic in 2004.
Maukiekie Island at Moeraki held the largest number of Otago shag nests from the 1980s to 2017, but this year the number of nests at Maukiekie Island dropped 24%, or about 91 nests, from 383 to 292.
At Oamaru, this year Dr Lalas recorded a 19% increase in nests, a rise of from about 346 to about 411.
