No one knew that Kaikōura was home to the world’s only alpine-dwelling seabird until an amateur ornithologist following a rumour discovered its burrows high in the mountains. As the bizarre attributes and tenuous existence of the Hutton’s shearwater (Puffinus huttoni) slowly came to light, Kaikōura took up the mantle of protecting its local bird—just in time to witness the destruction of its breeding grounds in the November 2016 earthquake.
Shot on assignment for New Zealand Geographic Issue 144 March-April 2017.
Read the Feature: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/snow-birds/