Waiheke Island Marina
Waiheke Island Marina is a newly constructed 180-berth marina located in Putiki Pay, on the western side of Auckland’s Waiheke Island. The facility includes a fixed wharf, floating carpark, piers, pontoons and jetties - supported by piles driven into the seabed and existing rock wall that is home to a colony of kororā (little blue penguin).
CLIENT
Kennedy Point Boatharbour Ltd
LOCATION
Waiheke Island, Auckland, NZ
COMPLETED
2023
Our Scope
Marshall Day Acoustics was engaged in 2016 to assess airborne and underwater noise effects associated with the proposed development. We provided expert evidence and attended a consent hearing in 2017, after which the project received approval to proceed.
Ahead of construction in 2021, attention was drawn to the nearby kororā colony. We prepared a fauna noise effects assessment and proposed a noise disturbance threshold after reviewing scientific literature on the impacts of noise effects on other penguin species.
Throughout construction, we carried out noise measurements in parallel with ecological surveys led by Boffa Miskell to monitor the effects on the kororā population. The detailed noise and ecological results addressed a significant gap in the understanding of noise effects on marine fauna and formed the basis of a joint research paper.
CHALLENGES
A key challenge for this project was the lack of established criteria for assessing noise impacts on kororā. Determining an appropriate disturbance threshold required a comprehensive review of available literature on the effects of noise on other penguin species. The absence of existing data introduced a level of uncertainty, which made it necessary to implement an adaptive management approach during construction.
Despite these challenges, the project successfully maintained noise levels below the proposed threshold, and no observable adverse effects on the kororā population were recorded. In fact, kororā numbers increased in the season following construction near the rock wall and have remained stable since project completion.
Research
Our collaboration with Boffa Miskell (project ecologist) resulted in a research paper titled ‘Effect of Piling on Little Blue Penguins’, which examined the correlation between the noise and ecological monitoring results. The paper was presented at the 2023 Aquatic Noise Conference in Berlin and was published in the widely respected ‘The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life’ book.
“The team at Marshall Day were fantastic to work with. We needed smart people who could work with our ecologist and construction team on a collaborative basis to make sure our resident Kororā population weren’t disturbed in any way. They delivered on all levels, applying science and practical techniques to do so. Our Kororā have never been happier! Highly recommended.”
PROJECT TEAM
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