“Thank you very much for your very enthusiastic comments ^-^ Very glad that the whole family enjoyed their time with us a found it cost effective. Wishing you all the best.”

“Thank you very much for your kind words. Always very happy to share our part of the world and the conservation work. The penguin team wishes you all the best for 2021 ^-^”

“Thank you very much for taking the time to write a review of your time with us. Penguins are the cutest ^-^”

“Thank you very much for taking the time to write a review about your time with us. We're very glad that you find the tour informative as we believe that it gives a better understanding of the area you're visiting ^-^”

“Thank you very much for your kind comments on your early sea-kayaking trip. It is always nice being on the water and gently going along the coastline to encounter the wildlife within the marine reserve, so thank you for taking me out ^-^ We hope you enjoy your time in Akaroa. All the best. Kevin.”

“Hi there, Wow, what an amazing comment. Thank you so very much for this. It is very good to see that despite some comments you decided to come and were pleased with the tour and understood the conservation work. It always has been and always will be penguins before people and we try to share our passion for the penguins and the conservation work but it is sad to read some negative review. We thank you so very much once again for your review and having joined us on one of our tour. We wish you all the best. Kindly, Kevin.”

“Merci beaucoup pour ce commentaire. Benoit est un excellent guide en effet qui connait tres bien la region and la faune sauvage de la baie et de la peninsule. Nos esperons que la fin de vos vacances ce sont bien passees. Cordialement. Kevin.”

“Hi there, Thank you very much for your kind comments. We are very happy to see that you had a good time, our guides are very passionate and always happy to share the history of the area and the conservation work. The Yellow eyed penguin is always an amazing encounter when seen but can never be guaranteed as they go home when they are ready meaning sometimes in the afternoon and sometimes very late at night once we have left. Once again thank you for your comments and having joined us. Kindly, Kevin.”

“Hi there, We appreciate you taking the time to share you thoughts on your time with us and are sad to see that this hasn't reach your expectation. We would have love to hear your feelings while we were on the tour as we would have been able to explain more in depth what we do and the reasons we do things. I would like to hear from you as to why you think that we are not a safari. Penguins are seen up close in nesting boxes yes but this is only a copy of what they do on their own: digging burrows and looking for small and narrow places, preferring anything already made up like the underneath of a building, a kayak upside down or even your gumboot left on the front porch at night. All birds that you have seen are wild, walking on land and hiding during the day as all other species of penguins do in New Zealand, coming ashore at the end of the day with the cover of darkness. By not using flash lights or any artificial lighting we are offering a natural viewing for the penguins which is not disturbing. Pohatu bay is their natural habitat, here they are spreading up to 700 meters in land and up to 300 meters altitude. They have always been here so I am unsure to understand the comments regarding not being a safari as Google definition is an expedition to observe or hunt animals in their natural habitat. All of our actions as you have said are truly for the well being of the penguins and I am sad that we haven't been able to make you understand why, meaning that we must improve the way we communicate and share what has to be done to protect them. We are controlling and limiting the amount of people coming through everyday. In 2000 after the first survey being done and the government publicizing the colony, people started to arrive at random times of the day or the night with flash lights looking for penguins which was very disturbing for them and for their breeding success as adults were bolting back to the water leaving their chicks to starve. There is the question "Do you save a penguin or do you let him die when you know that a chick has lost his parents from starvation or predator?" Or do you intervene giving them a second chance? We choose to lessen the damage because the more penguins go to sea and the more recruitment for the colony and that is why we have penguins in care. When the penguins are being fed the only thing they have on their mind is food and so the number of people in front of them is not disturbing as long as we respect some codes (no flash photography, no movements or loud noises...). We have to do 3 times a day and believe that doing it with clients is a good time. Taking penguins for a swim and gently tossing them in the water (in comparison to what nature through at them) is actually a necessity as this totally get them wet making them use a gland on their tail to waterproof themselves. We do not want them to just swim at the surface as this would be pointless and not preparing them for the ocean. After over 30 years of conservation and such actions happening, the colony would not have done as well as it has. The first survey in 2000 counted 717 breeding pairs and the last one in 2016 counted 1250. Many other organisations and scientists are backing up what we do but once again we apologies if those information haven't been properly communicated. We hope that you will find comfort in the fact that you coming on a tour helps us with the control of predators, in the making of nesting sites, rehabilitation and being able to help out other project such as the protection of the yellow eyed penguins, the hector dolphins... Kindly, Kevin.

“Hi there, Thank your for taking the time to share your feeling regarding your time with us and feel sad to think that you are mistaking us for a zoo as we are everything but this. All of our penguins are wild and treated as such. Through the explanation of the conservation work you should have understand that everything we do is for the well being of the penguins. Yes it happens at times of the year that we have to look after some penguins (some weak or abandoned) but we only do this as otherwise penguins would have headed at sea and gone for a certain death. This happens for a short period of time and we never keep penguins in care longer that necessary. We do have to feed them and having clients coming on tour seems to be the best time to do this. The plastic boxes are only used to transport them to a safe creek where they can swim allowing us to see how ready they are before sending them to sea. The nesting sites, as explained during the tour are identical to what penguins would be doing on their own. Digging a burrow like rabbit would do, taking them up to 3 years before being happy and starting to breed thus creating a lot of fights and breeding failures. Being opportunists they move in anything dark and narrow: underneath a building, a crack in a rock, roots of a bush and so a square wooden box is the same thing for them. The big advantage to us is that we can check on the colony and adapt the conservation work that we do, allowing us to see if there are predators, competition, starvation events... Those penguins are wild penguins and move in because they decide to. If the viewing of the nesting sites is short is because we do not want to disturb them. We would never prioritize a photo over the birds well being so yes it true that the close encounter of the penguins in nesting sites is for a few seconds as lifting the roof of anyone house would be a surprise don't you think? I have the feeling that you were expecting to see penguins by hundreds or thousands hanging together on the beach as you would in Antarctica or South Africa. All penguin species in New Zealand behave very differently all hiding in the ground or in the bush, very shy and very rare to see during the day other than through conservation work. At times of the year they do socialize on the water by big numbers all waiting for darkness to feel safe and come ashore under the hides. But there again we do not want to disturb the birds and so we are not using flash lights and are offering a very natural viewing for the penguins. I would really like to her from you as to how you have heard about us as we know what we offer and all agents working for us should to and should take the time to explain what we do so please do get in touch with us. Our email address is: tours@pohatu.co.nz. Conservation for the penguins is at the heart of what we do and who we are and that is what we advertise ourselves at: a family that has proven that anyone can make a difference for a specie, sharing the self funded conservation work that saved the penguins from extinction from the area. I feel that this hasn't been understand and I sincerely apologies if we mis-communicated all this during the tour but hope you will find comfort in the fact that you coming on tours directly helped protecting them. I wish you all the best. Kindly, Kevin. General Manager.