Summer science: Seabirds in Auckland

The summer science fun continues with an episode from RNZ podcast Voices. Meet Gaia Dell'Arriccia, a scientist originally from the south of France who studies the seabirds that live around Auckland's coastlines.

A seabird colony at night is a noisy place. But it's also an incredible experience to have thousands of birds flying around you, says seabird scientist Gaia Dell'Arriccia.

The summer science series continues this week with an episode from Voices, an RNZ podcast that tells the stories of the one-quarter of New Zealanders born overseas.

Host Kadambari Raghukumar meets Gaia at the Ōrākei Basin, where she is monitoring a shag breeding colony.

Listen to hear about Gaia's work studying the seabirds around the Auckland coast and offshore islands, and her journey from the Mediterranean to Aotearoa.

Learn more:

• Scientists are also studying the feathers of museum specimens to figure out how Auckland's seabird populations are changing: What feathers can tell us about the past lives of seabirds.
• Meet another passionate seabird scientist, Edin Whitehead, in For the love of seabirds.
• Visit one of Auckland's seabird hotspots in our two-part episode on the Noises Islands: Part 1 and Part 2.
• Head out onto the streets of Auckland with the petrel patrol in search of crash-landed seabirds.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details