Welcome aboard
Kiwi diving at its best .
Dive at The Poor Knights and see an amazing variety of fish and New Zealand marine invertebrates .
The land Of the
Poor Knight Islands, while not being altogether perfect for human habitation,
seems to be well suited for a number of seabirds that have made it their home.
The most common are the Bullers shearwater, numbering about 2,000,000 at times.
There are also at least 5 other types of petrel, including the Sooty shearwater
a.k.a. mutton duck. Perhaps the most spectacular seabird in the area is the
gannet, which can often be seen plummeting into a school of baitfish from an
altitude of 100 metres or more. Other types of bird to be spotted are the pied
shag or cormorant, the native parrot kakariki, the kingfisher, and the harrier
hawk.
On the cliff tops, some of which reach 200 metres, there is a Pohutokawa forest that flowers a brilliant red in October/November. This is joined by the endemic Poor Knights lily about one month later, its flowers resembling a sparkling crimson bottlebrush.
Some
of the more unusual terrestrial wildlife includes a number of indigenous skinks
and geckos, but the most famous reptile is definitely the tuatara, a genuine
dinosaur. There are also giant centipedes, giant weta’s (one of the heaviest
insects in the world- a bit like an overgrown grasshopper), and a variety of
native snails including the flax snail.
Going
ashore at the Islands is strictly prohibited by the New Zealand department of
conservation, and those foolish enough to do so are subject to large fines
and/or imprisonment.