Seabird Genius
eBook - PDF

Seabird Genius

The Story of L.E. Richdale, The Royal Albatross, and the yellow-eyed penguin.

  1. 289 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Seabird Genius

The Story of L.E. Richdale, The Royal Albatross, and the yellow-eyed penguin.

About this book

The first biography of Lance Richdale, who achieved international fame as the father of Otago's albatross colony from 1936 and for his research on the behaviour of the Yellow-eyed Penguin – Time magazine dubbed him 'The Dr Kinsey of the penguin world' – and the sooty shearwater, or muttonbird. Richdale grew up in Wanganui, took a tertiary course in agriculture in New South Wales, and returned to New Zealand to teach mainly in rural schools in the North Island for several years, eventually taking up a position with the Otago Education Board in 1928 as an inspiring itinerant agricultural instructor and nature study teacher. Richdale never gave up his day job and incredibly in the weekends, holidays and evenings undertook major, meticulous and time-consuming research on penguins, albatrosses and several petrel species. His study of the muttonbird was achieved during prolonged solo camps on tiny Whero Island in stormy Foveaux Strait, where the wind blew straight from Antarctica. Neville Peat's biography searches the traces left by this shy and obsessed man for some answers to two questions: why? and what drove him? Richdale's legacy is a nature tourism industry in Dunedin worth $100 million a year, and the longest-running seabird population study in the world.

Trusted by 375,005 students

Access to over 1.5 million titles for a fair monthly price.

Study more efficiently using our study tools.

Table of contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Half Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. Foreword by Christopher Robertson
  7. Chronology, L.E. Richdale
  8. Chapter 1: ‘… a rising gale among trees’
  9. Chapter 2: Head Boy
  10. Chapter 3: Nature Study Man
  11. Chapter 4: Communing with Penguins
  12. Chapter 5: The Frenetic Forties
  13. Chapter 6: Whero: ‘treasure island’
  14. Chapter 7: America, Coast to Coast
  15. Chapter 8: Honoured
  16. Chapter 9: O, to be in England
  17. Chapter 10: Farewell to Father, Whero, and Classrooms
  18. Chapter 11: Petrel Pressure
  19. Chapter 12: The Auckland Years
  20. Chapter 13: Legacy
  21. Postscript. Whero: Nature’s Enigma
  22. Acknowledgements
  23. Bibliography of works by L.E. Richdale and A.M. Richdale
  24. Notes
  25. References
  26. Index

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn how to download books offline
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.5M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1.5 million books across 990+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn about our mission
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more about Read Aloud
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS and Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Yes, you can access Seabird Genius by Neville Peat in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Science & Technology Biographies. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.