Richdale biography

Seabird Genius, written by Neville Peat (2011), is the story of L. E. Richdale, the royal albatross, and the hoiho. Lance Richdale achieved international fame as the

father of Otago’s albatross colony and for his research on the behaviour of the hoiho. Richdale, a teacher, spent his weekends, holidays and evenings undertaking major and meticulous research on penguins, albatrosses and several petrel species.

Friday the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 2011 was a memorable day for a small group of people visiting Dunedin. Members of both Lance and Agnes Richdale’s family were hosted by the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust on an Otago Peninsula tour as a precursor to the launch of Seabird Genius. The extended family of 15 nieces, nephews and cousins were shown some of the Trust’s work on a private reserve, the site where Lance undertook his first penguin studies at Cape Saunders. They were then given a tour of the Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head by the Otago Peninsula Trust.

You can order your own copy of this fantastic book through the Otago University Press.