Seabirds around fishing vessels

Sooty shearwater

Puffinus griseus

The sooty shearwater is ubiquitous in all oceans. It breeds on numerous temperate and subantarctic islands. The New Zealand population may be as high as 5 million breeding pairs, with the biggest colonies around Stewart, Snares, and Chatham islands. This species is the most commonly harvested muttonbird in New Zealand. A very similar-looking species, the short-tailed shearwater, is also present in New Zealand waters, but does not breed here. The two species may be misidentified at sea.

Puffinus griseus
CC-BY, Dragonfly Science

Mean number of sooty shearwater recorded around fishing vessels during counts carried out by government observers, binned to 0.4 degree of longitude and latitude. The size of the circle indicates the number of observations, whereas the colour indicates the mean number of birds recorded during counts. Empty circles indicate that no birds were observed. The grey areas indicate water depths of less than 1000 m.

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