Larus dominicanus

Oh boy, what's that there in your throat?

Number 2 in our 3-part series on New Zealand gulls: the Southern Black-Backed Gull. Not to be confused of course with the Lesser Black-Backed, Great Black-Backed, or Slaty-Backed Gulls of the North Atlantic. This species seems to be the Southern Hemisphere representative of the world's large dark-backed gulls, inhabiting most coasts of the southern oceans. Everybody's got a name for it: Dominican Gull, Kelp Gull, and, in the Maori, Karoro.

The BBG is the only large gull in New Zealand, found along the coasts but also somewhat inland. It's an aggressive gull, known to perch on the backs of right whales and peck through their tough layers of skin to feast on the blubber within. Gnarly. They have a wide-reaching omnivorous diet, like most gulls--so that could be anything making its way down this gull's throat. Could it be something controversial? He does seem a bit self conscious about it....


It was another lazy day today. The most exciting moment came as the first one of the day, when a 5.8 earthquake--centered over 400 km away--shook me awake around 7:15 a.m. In the afternoon I wandered around the Wellington waterfront, breathing it all in. I already like this city more than Auckland, though I can't exactly pinpoint why. Funny thing, so says most travellers I've met. There's something much more inviting about it...the corners feel rounder, the air is a brighter color. The city skyline isn't exactly that; those buildings that mean to scrape the sky are actually lorded over by the rich greenery of the hills behind them. As New Zealand's capital, it is home to around 400,000 people, nearly a million less than Auckland.

The one thing you hear over and over again about Wellington is that it's where NZ's culture lives. Which explains the proliferation of evocative dress, architecture, and expression of all kinds. They also call it the capital of caffeine, which, as I sit with my mochaccino in the library cafe, is a well-deserved distinction.


...Part 1, for those following along at home.