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Codfish Island or Whenua Hou is a small island (14 km²) located to the west of Stewart Island/Rakiura in southern New Zealand. It is a predator-free bird sanctuary and the focus of kakapo recovery efforts,  with the majority of the breeding population currently located on this island. It is also home to southern short-tailed bats, kaka, fernbirds, red and yellow-crowned parakeets, and a recently introduced population of yellowheads (mohua). Yellow-eyed and Fiordland penguins breed along the coastline.

The English name refers to the endemic blue cod or rawaru / pakirikiri, which is fished commercially in surrounding waters by trapping in baited pots. Whenua Hou means “new land” in Maori.

2009:

The resurvey of Codfish was completed by Sandy King (Projects Officer Southern Islands) with assistance from DOC staff Dave Houston (Auckland) and Dean Nelson (Twizel), both very experienced yellow-eyed penguin people in their previous roles with DOC.

The 2009 survey found 46 breeding pairs (vs 2001 61 pairs)

If you add on a 15% margin of error for ‘missed nests’ then that is still only 53 breedng pairs, or down 15% from the 2001 survey.

We still need to find out WHY.

Comment from Dave “Codfish, with the removal of pest species and the addition of a few new birds, is even better than I remember from my first amazing trip there 28 years ago, although the hills have apparently got steeper.  Thanks to Sandy King and the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust for the opportunity to take part in this fantastic trip and to Dean for bringing the scotch.”

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(Thanks Dave for the awesome photos!)

2001:

The Trust-sponsored yellow-eyed penguin census of Whenua Hou commenced mid-November 2001.

It was important the Trust conduct this survey of this predator-free island. When results are compared to those of the neighbouring Stewart Island, it may assist us in finding out whether feral cat predation is a significant factor in the low numbers of yellow-eyed penguins on Stewart Island.

The Trust’s Projects Officer, David Blair and other experienced volunteers carried out a nest search to find 61 productive nests in three main breeding areas. Following the nest search a series of beach counts were completed. The results for Whenua Hou were very positive this year as the numbers of juveniles and non-breeding adult penguins give promise of a secure future for this breeding location.