Australasian Gannets Sunset Muriwai Beach New Zealand
Photo & Vacation Spot

This colony of Australasian Gannets rest atop the cliff at Muriwai Beach, New Zealand where the sunset lighting spans the surface of the water. Across the horizon, the sun will slowly disappear for the evening leaving the Gannets in darkness.

What appears as a mass of decorative rocks attached to the flat face on the cliff, is actually a colony of Australasian Gannets who come to this rugged coastline at Muriwai Beach, New Zealand to nest and breed. As the birds go about their business, the sunset lighting spans the sky where scattered clouds encircle the last signs of the sun.

Approximately 1,200 pairs of Australasian Gannets use Muriwai Beach, located near Auckland, New Zealand, as their place of residence for a few months out of the year. Here they can soar to the swirling waters below to snatch their meal out of the water, a behavior which they have mastered.

Three separate colonies are found around the coastal shores of New Zealand, Muriwai Beach, Farewell Spit and Cape Kidnappers. Once the chicks have grown enough to take flight, the gannets will spread their wings and take off into the sky amongst some of the most beautiful displays at sunset.

Australasian Gannets, Morus serrator, Muriwai Beach, Muriwai, near Auckland, Waitakere, West Coast, North Island, New Zealand.