The Northern royal albatross is the largest seabird in the world with a wing span that can reach over 10 ft or 3 meters. I filmed this soaring albatross as it was returning to feed its chick at the end of the day.
This is one of the most exciting view opportunities if you want to see Albatross close up. There are many thousands of birds on the Otago peninsula, including Albatross and Penguins, and the drive from Dunedin is exceptionally scenic.
Giant Albatross regularly soar past the Waiwhakaheke Seabird Lookout at eye level. This is a public viewing platform and there is no fee. You can see the location on Google Maps at goo.gl/maps/Zi...
The nearby Royal Albatross Centre can be quite expensive, but is definitely worth it for the educational value. And the money goes to conservation efforts on behalf of the albatross.
Royal albatross are renowned ocean wanderers and travel vast distances from their breeding grounds to feed - as much as 190,000 km a year. Royal albatross range throughout the Southern Ocean and are most commonly seen in New Zealand coastal waters during winter.
Taiaroa Head Nature Reserve
Located on the windswept end of the Otago Peninsula, Taiaroa Head or Pukekura is world renowned as the only mainland colony of albatross in the Southern Hemisphere.
With nearly 10,000 seabirds residing on Taiaroa Head the wildlife viewing opportunities here are immense.
For a virtual wildlife viewing experience from your own living room, I can highly recommend watching a live stream of northern royal albatross parents and chick nesting on the Royal cam at albatross.org....
Albatross Breeding Cycle
Every year about half of the headland's 200 northern royal albatross make landfall for courtship or to nest. With a breeding cycle of 11 months, viewing albatross is almost a year round event.
The Otago Peninsula Trust operates guided tours to the albatross observatory overlooking part of the nature reserve. The Trust also manages the Royal Albatross visitor centre situated near the car park at Taiaroa Head.
On windy days, albatross can be seen from the visitor centre gliding over the headland, however a visit to the observatory is required to see the nesting and courtship activity.
Visit our website at biogeoplanet.com for more interesting and fun facts about amazing creatures and epic wildlife destinations.
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Негізгі бет Royal Albatross soaring past viewpoint, Slow Motion Clip, Otago peninsula, New Zealand
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