iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Replies

Andy McKay @korimakoecology.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Giant petrels can travel 400-500km per day. It's around 1,250km in a straight line between the Auckland Islands and Cape Palliser/Petone Beach or 1,000km from Antipodes Island. So would take 2-3 days, maybe a bit faster in a Southerly. H5N1 infected birds die 2-4 days after being infected.

Map of Aotearoa New Zealand showing possible migration lines from Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes and Bounty Islands.

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Andy McKay @korimakoecology.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

This is all a wild guess but given where the birds have been found I think it's unlikely that the birds showing up in AoNZ have come via Australia. Which suggests there is live transmission on our offshore islands. These are unmonitored over winter so nobody knows what's happening down there.

thepost.co.nz

Third case of H5 bird flu found in Wellington region

Ministry for Primary Industries says the northern giant petrel was found dead on a remote Cape Palliser beach in the Wairarapa.

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Andy McKay @korimakoecology.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

The second death in AoNZ was a kahu which means there has been at least some local transmission. But given no other local birds have been found since it's possible we got extremely lucky, and miraculously found the last bird in a short transmission chain.

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