Concerns have been raised at Dunedin's Taiaora Head about the safety of the bird colony that may be in danger from drones flying overhead.
Royal albatross colony visitor host Ashleigh Compton says in the past week there has been two incidents where drones have been seen flying in the area, one crashed and has been recovered by staff.
"Last Wednesday we had a drone flying out here, Thursday morning found a drone upside down within a metre of an albatross potential nesting site," she says. "That bird hasn't been back to that specific area since the incident.
"It's really worrying for staff and the Department of Conservation that this has happened and we're just trying to make everyone aware that you're really breaching serious Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rules by having drones out in this area."
Ms Compton says drones have become more common at Taiaora Heads, however users don't always follow CAA rules that have a no-fly zone for all aircraft over the area.
"The reason the no-fly zone is here is because if they hit one of the birds here, whether that's the red billed seagull, the albatross, the shags, they're all protected species.
"We're the only mainland colony in the world so we really try and protect the birds we do have nesting here."
The birds are just starting their nesting season and so far there are 31 birds back, however usually around 120 birds come back for each new breeding season.
Penalties for operating a drone above the restricted colony airspace without a permit can result in up to two years' imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $100,000.
Newshub.
