Driving rain interrupted the Department of Conservation's live-streaming web cam last week but failed to dampen the international popularity of the royal albatross chick in the spotlight.
Otago Peninsula Trust marketing manager Sophie Barker said the webcam, named ''royalcam'', did not livestream last Wednesday night, after Doc put in a screen to protect the unnamed chick from driving rain and high winds.
Other chicks at the Northern royal albatross breeding colony on Taiaroa Head, near Dunedin, were also protected.
The screen was later shifted to protect the chicks from changing wind directions, including from the remnants of Cyclone Cook on Friday, until the weather settled.
The trust operates the Royal Albatross Centre, which also promotes the webcam broadcast through its internet home page and Facebook page.
A chick, later named Moana, proved a big hit on Doc's ''royalcam'' when it was first set up early last year to watch the young bird's development at
the only mainland albatross breeding colony in the southern hemisphere.
Royalcam attracted more than a million social media interactions, including 600,000 Youtube views during the fledging period, before Moana left the nest in September.
The second chick, born in late January this year, has also proved highly popular on social media.
Ms Barker said 15 people had commented, on the centre's facebook page, about the interrupted webcam viewing, but had voiced empathy about the chick's efforts to survive the rough weather, and had understood the disruption.
''They just hoped the chick was going to be all right.''
The resumed livestreaming showed ''incredible'' views, not only of the chick but also the Otago Harbour, and had proved ''compelling'' and addictive viewing for people both in New Zealand and overseas.
