Marine life seen on Auckland Sea Kayak tour in the Hauraki Gulf
Auckland Sea Kayaks operates our tours in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, which is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. This is an amazing place to sea kayak and is made up of 1.2 million hectares of water and more than 30 major islands groups. A world class kayak tour location.
It protects scenery, ecosystems and natural features so there can be found a huge diversity of marine species.
Most of the islands are open to the public for recreation and relaxation, but some of them are sanctuaries for endangered species and to land you must have a permit. There are also five marine reserves included within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Many of the islands are bird sanctuaries, holding critically endangered species like kiwi, takahe, brown teal and grey-faced petrel. There are also numerous bird species that were locally extinct and have been reintroduced in the last decades.
Some particular common or known animals include bottlenose and common dolphins, which are sometimes seen in groups of 300-500 animals or more, can also be found in the Hauraki Gulf.
Various species of whales and orcas are also a relatively common sight, because there are approximately 25 species of marine mammals in the gulf and nearly a third of the world’s marine mammal species live in or visit the Marine Park.
Auckland Sea Kayaks offers unique sea kayaking tours in this magical marine environment.