You know I like to spend a lot of time outdoors & I have been known to lie in long grass with a telephoto lens to wait for these little guys. Yellow-eyed Penguins (Hoiho). I’m guessing this image was the resulted effort of 5x or so trips up to Moeraki. Many cold freezing fingers & late trips home in the dark. This image is from Katiki Point, 76 Kms North of Dunedin on the Moeraki Peninsula. Probably in the Oamaru / Waitaki District.
I never make these images intending to sell them, so you gotta realise my surprise when Air New Zealand & Dunedin Airport wanted to use this image in their marketing (You know it’s Moeraki & not Dunedin, right?). But they didn’t seem to mind.
I can’t help to wonder… Do we have ownership or guardianship over these little penguins? By making these images public (ie: tourist images) might it encourage more people to go searching for the little Hoiho (Yellow-Eyed Penguin) at unknown habitats like these? This is the most significant breeding site for yellow-eyed penguins/hoiho in North Otago & needs to be protected.
