New Zealand - Muriwai

Muriwai's gannet colony at Otakamiro Point is a one of the three colonies on the mainland of New Zealand, although out to sea, the colony continues on two vertical-sided islands (Oaia - where the colony first established - and Motutara). About 1.200 pairs of Australasian gannets nest here from August to March each year. The birds return from Australia to establish contact again with their lifelong mates.

The nests of the breeding colony are just centimetres apart. Each pair lays one egg and the parents take turns on the nest and strive for food by diving into the sea at up to 145 km per hour.

The chicks hatch naked, but within a week they're covered with fluffy down. As they mature, they grow juvenile feathers and begin to exercise their wings in preparation for the one-shot jump off the cliff. Once airborne, the young gannets leave the colony and cross the Tasman Sea to Australia. A few years later, surviving birds return to secure a nest site at the colony.