Mason Bay on the west coast of Stewart Island is the starting point for our Stewart Island Track guided walk and it appears from a recent count of dead muttonbirds that all is not well in Mutton bird land .... a recent survey indicates that warm ocean currents ( apparently they come from the Gold Coast of Australia ) may have moved the whole muttonbird eco system southward ....
The Southland Times reports ...
Thousands of young muttonbirds have starved to death on Stewart Island and the Titi Islands this season because parental birds have abandoned their chicks in search of food.
Experts say warmer ocean temperatures have pushed small fish that the birds eat such as krill, squid and sardines into deeper and colder waters where they thrive. The muttonbirds have followed them to those colder waters.
Invercargill naturalist Lloyd Esler did an annual count of muttonbirds on Mason Bay, Stewart Island, at the weekend, which revealed the most dead muttonbirds he had seen in about 15 years.
Almost 2000 dead birds were found washed up on the shore compared with about 100 in previous years, he said.
There was a "glitch" in the food supply and it could be because warm currents moved small fish into water too deep for the birds to catch, Mr Esler said.
Read the full article here......
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