Protest to protect penguins on Waiheke coast
Protesters in kayaks blocked the path of a construction barge at Waiheke’s Kennedy Point yesterday to stop work which they say could harm little blue penguins.
Dozens more protesters organised a sit-in on the rock breakwater where korora¯ have burrows. Their aim was to stop the first stage of construction for the controversial 181-berth Kennedy Point marina, which campaigners have been fighting through the courts since 2017.
Karen Saunders, general manager of Native Bird Rescue on Waiheke Island, said the developers’ plan to move rocks from the breakwater could lead to penguins dying. Disturbing the penguins’ burrows could make them ‘‘run in terror,’’ she said.
For korora¯ moulting late in the season, that could lead to them drowning.
The Waiheke community was mobilised yesterday by calls to protect the korora¯. Emily Ma¯ia Weiss (Nga¯ ti Pa¯ oa) is one of the occupiers who has been at Kennedy Point fulltime for more than a month. When workers arrived by boat yesterday morning, kayakers paddled out into Pu¯ tiki Bay to get between the barge and the breakwater, while 30-40 people gathered on the rocks.
Weiss stressed the action was not just about finding a temporary solution to protect the penguins but stopping construction completely. ‘‘The whole marina will be detrimental to korora¯,’’ she said. A hui would take place tomorrow, she said, bringing together mana whenua for the island Nga¯ti Pa¯oa, DOC, Auckland Council, the developers and other interested parties.
Nga¯ti Pa¯oa Trust Board representatives Allies and Danella Roebeck said the board had declared the area wa¯ hi tapu and had issued developers with a trespass notice.
The marina project manager, Scott Fickling, said the developers were ‘‘committed to protecting’’ the penguins. He said external consultants’ inspections indicated the likely presence of two burrows within the construction footprint and two more close by. A plan was being submitted to Auckland Council about how the removal of the rocks in the areas around the burrows would be managed.