The Hauraki Gulf, to the north of New Zealand, is home to millions of seabirds; nevertheless, it's still uncommon to see a giant petrel, let alone have an up close and personal encounter with one. After a hot day of weeding, myself and a few of the team went for a swim to cool down. I saw the giant petrel around 50m offshore, so got my GoPro and snorkel out in case I managed to get close to it. I wasn't expecting to get within touching distance! As soon as we entered the water the massive seabird paddled towards us, and as I was videoing it took several nibbles at my GoPro. Seabirds test possible food items with their beaks, so this didn't have much power behind it, which is lucky because that is one massive powerful beak!