Penguin Place Post

New Penguins Waddle To Canada

Eric Bennett — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:03:46 +0000

The Penguin Post has learned that the Calgary Zoo has announced its newest residents, penguins, have finally waddled to their new home and are just weeks away from making their public debut. The news comes as 46 penguins from five zoos, including facilities in the United States and Scotland, have all arrived at the Calgary Zoo. The new Penguin Plunge exhibit is due to open Feb. 17, in time for the Family Day holiday, said zoo spokeswoman Laurie Skene. “Everybody arrived safe and sound,” Skene said of the four species of penguins — gentoo, king, Humboldt and rockhopper — that will live in the display. Each penguin must undergo a 30-day quarantine before it can take up its new digs, Skene explained. The penguins were shipped to Calgary in refrigerated units with specially designed crates with ice and cold water. Zookeepers accompanied them on their journey, said Skene. Penguin Plunge will have indoor and outdoor homes for the black and white birds and feature pools where visitors can watch the penguins swim. The exhibit is one of the most technically complex at the zoo.

Penguins in Calgary await their grand opening

Penguin Poops On Kentucky Senate Floor

Eric Bennett — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:53:13 +0000

Even on vacation in Florida penguin news reaches us as the Penguin Post has learned that a penguin named Paula from the Newport Aquarium pooped on the Kentucky state Senate floor in Frankfort on Tuesday. The African blackfooted penguin had been brought to the chamber Tuesday by Senate President Pro Tem Katie Stine, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Southgate Republican was presenting her resolution to honor the Newport Aquarium for its stewardship of sea life and penguins when Senate President David Williams told her the bird had “just defecated on the floor.” With that business accomplished, Ric Urban curator of birds and mammals at the aquarium, placed Paula on the upper part of Williams’ desk while Stine finished presenting her resolution. Urban also took Paula to meet Gov. Steve Beshear, who tweeted the photo here with this caption: “Perhaps 1st time a penguin has been to KY Capitol? Today got a visit from Paula, penguin from the Newport Aquarium” Fortunately, Paula controlled herself during her meeting with the Governor.

Gov. Steve Beshear greets Paula the Penguin from the Newport Aquarium, and Ric Urban, curator of birds and mammals, at the capitol in Frankfort Tuesday . Paula created a stir when she pooped on the Senate floor during an appearance before state legislators. / Provided

Penguin-Pedia

Eric Bennett — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:17:21 +0000

Just in time for Penguin Awareness Day is the arrival at Penguin Place of what may be the definitive all-penguin publication of this generation. Penguin-Pedia, a 312 page hardcover homage to penguins and everything penguins. Written by David Salomon, a real estate developer from Dallas, TX, who spent 2 summers traveling the southern hemisphere to photograph all 17 species of penguin. Mr. Salomon’s goal in writing Penguin-Pedia was to increase penguin interest and awareness by creating the most comprehensive penguin book to date, while also making it enjoyable to look at and easy to read. It covers all extant species, each with its own chapter broken up into 16 different sections that focus on individual aspects of that species’ life, along with charts of specific information on each species’ diet, calendar, measurements and other numeric data. To encourage penguin fans to go see penguins for themselves, Mr. Salomon has included a section called “Where to Find a Penguin,” which contains both a list of penguin colonies in the wild and a list of zoo and aquarium exhibits around the world. All photographs in the book are Mr. Salomon’s own, and there are even a dozen trip suggestions to locations such as South Africa , The Galapagos Islands, and The Falkland Islands. Penguin-Pedia. What the penguin loving world has been looking for.

Penguin Awareness Day!

Eric Bennett — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:34:35 +0000

Yes, it’s that time of year again: National Penguin Awareness Day is Jan. 20 and we hope you celebrate in style. Obviously, if you’re a reader of the Penguin Post then it goes without saying that just about everyday is Penguin Awareness Day, but let’s make this annual event the perfect opportunity to enlighten others to the wonderful world of penguins. Be it something fun and silly, or something more serious like raising awareness to the plight of endangered and threatened penguins around the world. There are 17 species of penguins and many are threatened by climate change and man made dangers like oil spills and habitat encroachment which makes this years Penguin Awareness Day more important than ever. But, oil spills aside there’s still plenty of room to make this a fun day to celebrate and share. The first obvious way to start your day is wearing black and white, then adding some penguin accessories, be it jewelry, buttons, socks, a penguin hat or a pair of penguin mittens. In other words, dress like a penguin, think like a penguin. Next, how about having some fish for lunch or Penguin Pasta? My daughters are wearing their penguin hats and packing some goldfish crackers with their lunch. Remember, eating fish is healthy and a penguin would. A little waddle now and then wouldn’t hurt either, as would making penguin cupcakes or cookies. Visit your local penguins at a zoo or aquarium. Play a penguin board game, like Penguin-opoly or Match of The Penguins. In the evening how about a viewing of Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Happy Feet or March of The Penguins, or perhaps re-enacting the famous “Penguin Huddle” with someone special. Sending a Penguin Awareness Day e-card, replacing your desktop with penguin pictures, or forwarding penguin pictures to your friends is also a great way to share your penguin passion. So, here’s to having a wonderfully waddling National Penguin Awareness Day.

Penguin-Pedia

Eric Bennett — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:58:16 +0000

Here it is folks. It’s what Penguin Place and the penguin loving world has been waiting for. An all encompassing, engrossing, fun and informative encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the world of penguins. This wonderful new book called “Penguin-Pedia: One Man’s Search for the Penguins of the World” (Brown Books Publishing Group), by author and photographer David Salomon of Dallas, Texas, It’s everything the title hints at and more, not only introducing readers to the 17 species of penguins living in such faraway places as Africa, the Falkland and Galapagos Islands, Peru, Chili, and Australia, but to all the facts and details that make penguins, penguins. “Penguin-Pedia‘ is an informative and inspiring tribute to 17 species of penguins on the planet today,” says Mike Bingham, president of the Organization for the Conservation of Penguins. “If you are looking for an entertaining book about penguins with excellent images and lots of information, the “Penguin-Pedia” is for you,” adds Gerald Dick, PhD, MAS, CEO, World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Salomon was struck by “penguin mania” following a trip to Chilean Patagonia, where he experienced his first penguin sighting. “The first time I ever saw penguins I was struck by their social structure and abundance of emotions. I walked around them for hours, taking pictures and watching them through the lens of my Nikon camera. They gathered on the beach, exchanged verbal messages, played with each other and even fought. I was both enchanted and intrigued to say the least,” says Salomon. So began his educational journey to learn as much as he could about these incredible creatures, spending the next two years flying to remote places such as Argentina, Africa, and the Galapagos Islands. Through exhaustive research, Salomon discovered that finding answers to his questions about penguins proved challenging. That’s when the idea for a comprehensive book of penguin information – complete with compelling pictures – came to mind. In “Penguin-Pedia,” Salomon reveals the history behind their existence and goes into great detail about each penguin species from the largest, the Emperor, to the smallest, the Little (Fairy), with each chapter broken down into 16 different sections. Salomon’s thirst for knowledge became the driving force behind “Penguin-Pedia.” The more he learned, the more he became aware of their need for help. “Penguin Pedia” is Salomon’s contribution, which he hopes will help younger generations gain knowledge and better understand the penguins, their needs and the dangers they are facing. Says Salomon, “If we want to help them, we must first educate ourselves and learn who these penguins are and why they are suffering.” For readers eager to experience their own personal journey to penguin paradise, Salomon provides a detailed travel glossary at the back of the book, coupled with the approximate cost to visit each location, as well as a list of exhibits around the world.

The Penguin News

Eric Bennett — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:21:13 +0000

The Penguin Post has learned that there’s a namesake publication located on a small pair of islands off the coast of Argentina, and it’s called The Penguin News. The first copies of The Penguin News went on sale 33 years ago. Founder Graham Bound sensed that the British administered islands with a population of about 3000 needed a new voice and in response The Penguin News was created. It has, save for a few rare silences (such as during the Falkland’s War in 1982), been with us ever since. To date, seven different editors have been at the helm of the paper with numerous deputy editors, columnists and typists contributing over the years. Of course over the years with an indigenous penguin population about 100 times the human population there have been plenty of penguin related articles. The Falklands have become a major tourist destination for penguin lovers, but if you read the paper you’ll realize there’s lots more going on in this wonderfully fascinating corner of the world.

Bouncing Penguin Baby Boy

Eric Bennett — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:07:13 +0000

PROVIDENCE, R.I.- The cold temperatures will suit the newest resident of Roger Williams Park Zoo. As the Penguin Post has learned that a new Humboldt penguin has been born at the penguin exhibit. The announcement was made on Monday, with a photo posted on the zoo’s Facebook page announcing the male chick’s name as Providence. The chick still has the appearance of dull-colored downy fur, prior to becoming the mature black-and-white penguins most of us are familiar with. Zookeepers are limiting Providence’s exposure at this point until he goes on exhibit later in the spring.

Baby Providence

Penguins On Vacation

Eric Bennett — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:30:58 +0000

Penguin Place is heading south for vacation next week. Not so far south that we’ll be seeing penguins in their natural habitat, but far enough south that we’ll be able to see penguins while wearing a t-shirt and shorts, as in Seaworld in Orlando. We will be accepting, but not shipping any orders for the week of January 21st to the 27th. If you need some penguins asap, then don’t wait and order this week, but if there’s no rush or if it’s a Valentine’s Day order we will be getting all our penguin orders out from that week on January 30th and 31st.

Penguins waddling on the beach and soon so will I.

Blonde (not albino) Penguin

Eric Bennett — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:20:59 +0000

Last week the Penguin Post reported the discovery of an albino Chinstrap penguin, but we stand corrected. He’s leucistic—not albino—which means his coloring is muted but he still has pigmented eyes, making camouflage and fishing more difficult. Yet despite these disadvantages, blonde penguins are regularly found breeding normally.Penguins’ black and white coloring is essential to their survival, so exactly why has this blonde penguin survived?

The penguin was spotted at the edge of the South Shetland Islands by tourists and naturalist David Stephens. They were all aboard the National Geographic Journey to Antarctica. Stephens, of the Lindblad Expeditions cruise company, which is running the cruise, wrote on his blog: “Despite colorful variation in facial patterns, all penguins are decked in the standard black and white pattern. This is no accident. Counter-shading camouflage is so necessary to diving birds that all are fundamentally alike. But to our astonishment we found an exception. At the water’s edge stood a leucistic Chinstrap. This bird was whitish, but not quite an albino. Instead, it had pigmented eyes and a washed-out version of a Chinstrap’s normal pattern. Many wondered about this unusual bird’s chances of success. While odd coloration may make fishing a bit more difficult, leucistic birds are regularly found breeding normally.” The leucistic penguins have a reduced level of pigmentation but still have pigmented eyes, according to National Geographic. Penguins’ countershaded dark and white colors camouflage them from above from predators. Stephens wrote on his blog, “Many wondered about this unusual bird’s chances of success. While odd coloration may make fishing a bit more difficult, leucistic birds are regularly found breeding normally.” So good to you luck blonde, have a long, wonderful, waddling life.

Lucky Penguin Gets The Boot

Eric Bennett — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:01:55 +0000

In a move that’s upped the ante for cute corporate philanthropy to new and adorable heights, the Penguin Post has learned that Teva execs had given the green light for its designers to engineer and outfit a young penguin with a specialty boot to correct his foot disorder. Lucky, a young penguin at the Santa Barbara Zoo, was having a rough go of it (probably waddling in a circle) after his right leg stopped developing normally. That’s when Teva (those folks who make the velcro-sandals you see everywhere) stepped in to design a shoe that would allow plucky Lucky to operate his foot functionally. The shoemakers went through six different prototypes, before finding one that kept Lucky waddling happy. “We treated Lucky just like we’d treat any customer,” explains Stuart Jenkins, vice president of business development at Teva. Except the shoe was on the house.

Lucky takes his new Teva shoe for a waddle.