Milford Sound Marine Life

As you travel through the fiord on our Milford Sound Scenic Cruises you will view the habitats of some amazing animals and, with a little bit of luck, some of the animals themselves

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Dolphins

You may see three different species of Dolphin on Milford Sound scenic cruises. Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) are the most common dolphin seen. Up to 60 inhabit Milford and Doubtful Sounds and grow up to four metres in length. They are extremely playful animals and often enjoy contact with divers and snorkelers. They are often viewed riding the bow waves of boats and can swim at speeds up to 20-22 knots. If you are lucky a dolphin riding a bow wave will turn on its side to look at those viewing over the bow. Dusky Dolphin (Lagenorhychus obscurus) grow to about two metres in length are sometimes seen at Milford but Hectors Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori), the world rarest dolphin can be seen off the coast but never venture in the fiords.

Seals

Once hunted to near extinction, The New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) can now be found along most rocky coastlines in southern New Zealand and can usually be seen on Milford Sound scenic cruises. The NZ Fur Seal will grow up to two metres in length and weigh up to 200kg. During mating season adult males are extremely territorial and aggressive and may not leave the rookery for ten weeks, displacing many of the yearling males. It is thought that many of the seals at Milford are young males.

Penguins

Visitors on our Milford Sound scenic cruises have also been able to see two species of penguin which inhabit the fiords, The Fiordland Crested Penguin (Eudptyes pachyrhynchus) or Tawaki and The Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) or Korora. The Fiordland Crested Penguin is only found along the Fiordland coastline, it stands about 45-55cm tall, weighs 3-3.7kgs and is one of the rarest penguins in the world. The head, and upper parts of the body are blue-black with the under parts of the body being white. They are recognised by a sulphur-yellow eyebrow which extends over the eye to the back of the head where it develops into a plume and three to six white stripes on their cheeks. The largest nesting populations occur on Breaksea Island and small adjacent islands. At times of the year they are seen for short periods in Milford Sound.

Sea Birds

The fiords are breeding habitats for a range of sea birds, some resident, some migratory, e.g. shags (cormorant), sooty shearwater, oyster catchers and gulls.

Black Coral

(Antipathes fiordensis) is endemic to Fiordland and grows at depths as shallow as 5m, but grows especially well at depths of about 15 metres where it crowds the near vertical walls. It forms colonies that in places resemble small to medium-sized trees. Black coral grows less than 20mm a year so trees over five metres tall are estimated to be over 300 years old. Black corals are actually misnamed being neither black nor true coral. Living trees maybe yellow, orange, green or white (as in A. fiordensis). Only dead skeletons are black. True corals are built of calcium carbonate, black coral skeletons, made of protein reinforced with chiton are similar in composition to an insect cuticle.