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Waka Kotahi / New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) agreed to switch off the lights. Westland Petrel Conservation Trust chair Bruce Stuart-Menteath said that it seemed to have lessened the problem in Punakaiki, but it was now worse further south in Greymouth. DoC told me they had at least 20 so far and we found another four squashed on the roadside - this is in Greymouth. I only found one squashed on the roadside in Punakaiki, so far this season. The Department of Conservation (DoC) said with the street lighting turned off in Punakaiki this year, 10 of the birds had crash landed there, instead of the usual 15 to 25. ....
Crashing petrels moving south as lights dimmed in Punakaiki 23 Dec, 2020 06:31 PM 4 minutes to read RNZ By Tracy Neal of RNZ The mystery of why native Westland petrel fledglings keep crash-landing on the West Coast continues, after new LED street lights through Punakaiki were switched off to try to help them during their maiden flights. Each year the fledglings leave the comfort of their coastal burrows, and fly to rich feeding grounds 11,000km east across the Pacific Ocean. RNZ reported last summer the petrels were being dazed by bright new LED lights along the highway through Punakaiki, causing them to crash-land. ....
The Department of Conservation (DoC), the agency responsible for wildlife, reported that just 10 Westland petrels had crash landed in the town this year compared to the usual 15 to 25. Meanwhile, the fledgling seabirds have been crash landing on roads in much greater numbers in Greymouth, the biggest town on the west coast, 44km to the south. Westland petrel fallout victim near Greymouth, New Zealand. Photograph: Bruce Stuart-Menteath “This year there were 22, compared to 10 being the highest number previously - and for the first time we are getting them in the CBD,” said Darrell Haworth, the DoC’s senior biodiversity ranger in Greymouth. ....
Westland Petrel Conservation Trust The Westland Petrel Conservation Trust and DOC release fledglings found disoriented, but others are not so lucky and can be hit by a car or eaten by predators. Weeks after street lights were turned off at night in a small West Coast community to help migrating Westland petrel chicks, environmentalists have a new conundrum – the little birds are now crashing further south. Between November and January many fledglings leave their burrows in Punakaiki to embark on an 11,000km trip across the Pacific to South America. Navigating by the sun, moon and stars, man-made light can disorientate them and cause them to circle back and crash-land. ....