Concern over falling royal albatross numbers

Albatross socialising.

Royal Albatross Centre Operations Manager Chris McCormack.

Royal Albatross flight. Credit Chris McCormack.

Royal Albatross with egg.

Royal Albatross chick and Taiaroa Head Lighthouse. Credit Robert Brown.

First Albatross Chick 2016 with proud father OBR. Credit Dave Gooselink.

Royal Albatross and chick Credit Leon Chu.

Blue Penguins Pukekura. Credit Stephen Jaquiery.

Blue Penguins Pukekura. Credit Chris McCormack.

Red-beaked gull. Credit Lynn Freeman.

The very hot summer is causing concern at the royal albatross colony at Tairoa Head on the tip of the Otago Peninsula. The breeding season got off to a promising start, but several weeks of searing temperatures has the potential to cause some nests to fail. The Department of Conservation has set up a camera link for the past couple of years, following the fortunes of a selected royal albatross chick until it flies away.

[play_audio] Lynn Freeman speaks to the Royal Albatross Centre Operations Manager, Chris McCormack.