A rare sighting of a King Penguin, which popped into Pipikaretu Beach on the Otago Peninsula. Photo: Supplied / Jeff Yen
A rare sighting of a king penguin on an Otago beach has been described as a "once in a lifetime opportunity".
The penguin popped into Pipikaretu Beach while the Otago Peninsula Eco Restoration Alliance was hosting a tour at the private eco-reserve on Monday.
Alliance director Jerad Haldan said there have been less than 10 sightings of king penguins reported in New Zealand.
"It is incredibly rare," he said.
The sighting reminded him that you never knew what you were going to see when you were out watching wildlife, especially on the Otago Peninsula, Haldan said.
"I think most people will be aware we had an Adélie stop by last year during the season and so this is two seasons now where we've had some of the rarest penguins stopping by."
The reserve on the Otago Peninsula is home to Hoiho - yellow-eyed penguins and Kororā - little penguins.
Haldan said penguins were regularly spotted moving about the reserve but the lucky tour group discovered the much larger penguin, grabbed some binoculars and had "an incredible thrill" to spot the king penguin - the second largest species of penguin.
He described it as a "casual visit, with the penguin spending about 20 minutes on the beach before heading back to sea.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for our staff as well."
The last reported sighting in New Zealand was at Ōreti Beach last year.
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