Received: One Gannet (Morus Serator)

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Last weekend Paula and I took receipt of one gannet. It was self-billed as ‘Little Gannet’ but there was not much 'little' on display. However we did not conduct a full anatomical investigation and so may have missed the odd feature.

In preparation for the visit of the gannet, we went to visit a real life gannet colony, approximately one hour from central Auckland. We found them in high spirits, squawking and puffing up their breasts. It was so loud that we weren’t sure we would be able to cope with one in our flat.

We then found an information panel which revealed the following information about the typical gannet:

• The gannet’s grace and beauty is enchanting to watch
• The gannet can be aggressive
• The gannet has excellent navigation
• The gannet likes to feed at sea, reaching speeds of up to 145kmh as he enters the water to snatch a fish with his mouth, and has a very hard head to cope with this impact
• Every day is risky for the gannet; he likes to live life on the edge of the wind

I can report that, having now travelled around the country with a gannet and accommodated one in our flat, we have found some of the above characteristics to be wishful thinking, but others were very accurate.

Additionally, a few days into our stay, we watched the gannet interact with a parrot. It was truly beautiful. In the end, the parrot did not want to leave the gannet.

I would like to include a few pictures and a short but emotional video of our experiences to date.

The gannet has now left us, indicating a desire to experiment in thermal mud pools and perch in a hot air balloon further south. We had to let him go.

I hope you have found this zoological information interesting, and would welcome further correspondence at a convenient time based on your own observations.

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Photos

Muriwai Beach Gannet Colony
Near Auckland

Muriwai Beach Gannet Colony
Near Auckland