05 Feb 2025

Exploring Enderby Island

Today, we continued our exploration of New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands with a day at Enderby Island, part of the Auckland Islands group. What an incredibly varied experience we had – of landscape, wildlife and weather!

Many of us first explored the coast by Zodiac, with great sightings of the rare, Yellow-eyed Penguins (Hoiho) and groups of endemic Auckland Island Shag, as well as the impressive basalt columns that reveal the volcanic origins of these islands.

Landing on a sandy beach, we were greeted by a scene full of life. There were families of playful New Zealand Sea Lions, including comically boisterous pups, a regular parade of Yellow-eyed Penguins, scavenging Giant Petrels and Brown Skuas, with mixed flocks of terns and gulls feeding in the bay. Some of us even spotted a Great White Shark in the shallows!

An easy boardwalk led across the island through flowering Rātā forests echoing with the melodic calls of bellbirds, amongst unique Megaherbs, past the nests of Southern Royal Albatross to high windswept cliffs where pairs of Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross flew in graceful synchrony. While most of us then enjoyed the sights back along the boardwalk, some of us continued on a 12-kilometre circuit of the island, a challenging but rewarding hike.

During the day, the weather swung from pleasantly calm to driving rain and then full sun, giving the white sandy beach and blue waters of the bay an almost tropical feel. In every direction, there was fascinating wildlife – we saw 37 species of birds, 3 different mammals and 1 shark! All were living amongst unique vegetation, set in spectacular and varied scenery. It was another fabulous day on our In The Wake of Scott and Shackleton expedition as we set sail on Heritage Adventurer for our next destination, Macquarie Island.

Images © S. Bradley, Heritage Expeditions