Oamaru Harbour is teeming with little penguin life as the breeding season is on pace to set records at the harbour's two monitored colonies.
To date 627 eggs had been laid at both colonies combined and 417 chicks had hatched, Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony research scientist Dr Philippa Agnew said.
"So, that's kind of crazy.''
At the Tourism Waitaki-run Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony at the old Cape Wanbrow quarry site, there were now 182 breeding pairs, up on 174 this time last year.
Eleven chicks had already fledged this season; three pairs had already started a second clutch.
New breeders usually took longer to breed than little penguins that had bred in the past.
Last year from this point 15 new breeding pairs laid eggs.
Last year, the colony had a record 189 breeding pairs.
On average the colony had been growing 9% a year and it was possible the number of breeding pairs could hit 200 at the quarry colony.
On the other side of Holmes Wharf, at the Oamaru Creek Reserve colony, there were 124 breeding pairs - already more than last year's total of 116.
Last year, there was ``potentially'' disruption at the creek colony in the pre-breeding stage as foreshore protection work was under way, but now both colonies had recovered from a 2015 storm that had reduced penguin numbers significantly.
