Snap A Penguin Contest

NIAGARA FALLS NY– With their comical waddles and sleek, tuxedoed looks, penguins can make inviting photo subjects. That’s why the Aquarium of Niagara is now inviting photo submissions for a contest to help celebrate the popular aquatic birds. The first-prize winner in the contest will earn a meet-and-greet with a penguin. Second prize will be an 8-by- 10-inch unframed penguin art piece from the Aquarium. Honorable mention will earn a 4 x 6 inch art piece. Winners in the contest will be showcased during a Penguin Days Celebration to be held March 23-24 at the aquarium.

Contestants are allowed to submit up to five photos of penguins – taken locally or anywhere around the world – for their entry. Deadline for the photo submissions is Wednesday. All entries will be returned. “Most of the photos submitted to us have been taken by locals who take photos here, but we did have someone once who went to the Antarctic and took pictures of other species,” recalled Dan Arcara, supervisor of exhibits for the aquarium. The aquarium boasts 10 Humboldt penguins, Arcara said. These include William, who dates back to the aquarium’s original colony settlement in 1978, as well as 7-year-old Bobbi, a female, and Chile, a male. William is at least 38 years old, but his exact age is undetermined because he was an adult when he was brought to Niagara, Arcara explained. “They generally live 15 to 18 years in the wild, and much longer in captivity,” Arcara said of the penguins. Arcara promised many more interesting penguin facts during the celebration, which he called “a very popular event” for the aquarium, typically drawing close to 2,000 visitors over the two-day span. “The Humboldt penguins are from Peru and northern Chile – from a warmer climate,” he said. “Most people think of snow and ice and cold when they think of penguins because of what we see in the media and in movies, but of the 18 known species of penguins, only a half-dozen are from the Antarctic region. The rest are from warmer climates in South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.”

In order to be part of the contest, all photographs must have the entrant’s name on the back of the photo with location and title. The contest is not open to aquarium employees or their immediate family members. Photograph submissions must be no smaller than 5 by 7 and no larger than 8 by 10 inches. Digital images may be submitted at 300 dpi or greater. Photos may be mailed to the Aquarium of Niagara, Exhibits Dept., 701 Whirlpool St., Niagara Falls, NY 14305.

Can a penguin take a bad picture?

Yellow Eyed Penguin Chicks Released In NZ

The Penguin Post has learned that eight orphaned yellow-eyed penguin chicks have been released back into the wild on the shores of New Zealand. They were rescued from Dunedin’s on the New Zealand’s south eastern coast after their parents were killed by what’s thought to be a bio-toxin.  According to local reports the chicks had their hesitant experience of entering the ocean.  It’s the first time the chicks have ever set a flipper in the ocean. “They know how to swim, but it’s the sheer size of the sea is a bit scary and there are a lot of waves out there,” says Penguin Place manager Lisa King.  But the importance of the yellow-eyed penguin chicks taking on the deep blue is literally a matter of life or death.

“They’ve got to learn how to fish, and that’s their biggest challenge in the next few days,” says Ms King. “And if they don’t work it out quick enough, they’ll come ashore and starve to death.” But they get there in the end, despite a good thrashing from the incoming swell. “This is a second chance for them – their parents have died,” says Ms King. “If they had been left where they were they would have died.”   They’ve come a long way thanks to the Department of Conservation. The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust and the team at Penguin Place admit the endangered species won’t be tamed. “They know what to do when you hold them to feed them, and then they’ll bite you on the way when they leave,” says Ms King.

They were rescued more than 2 pounds underweight after the unexplained deaths of 60 adult yellow-eyed penguins on Dunedin’s coast. Further toxin testing is continuing after initial testing on the dead adult penguins hasn’t give any results. But DOC still suspect the cause is a bio-toxin. “It’s a very long haul for them,” says Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust general manager Sue Murray. “This is the first time they’ve been out to sea. They’ve got to learn to feed, to swim, to compete with predators in the sea. Basically they’ve been thrown in the deep end.” It is a deep end it’s hoped the chicks will return from, and go on to increase the yellow-eyed penguin population.

 

Penguin In A Strange Land

The Penguin Post has learned about the story of an adventurous Rockhopper penguin who got lost on the way to the Antarctic and ended up in sunny Alexandra, New Zealand. True story -there really was a penguin in Central Otago, about as far from the coast as it’s possible to get in this country. Central Vets Ltd senior small animal veterinarian, Sue Robb, operated on the 6-month-old injured rockhopper at the Alexandra clinic last week and its arrival caused quite a stir.

”The staff all came and had a look at it – it’s the closest most of them have ever been to a penguin,” Ms Robb said. It was found on a North Otago beach about a month ago with an injured foot, Katiki Point Charitable Trust honorary ranger Rosalie Goldsworthy said. She runs a penguin hospital at the point, near the Moeraki lighthouse, and the rockhopper ended up in her care. ”It was injured at sea. Some creature tried to kill it and got it by the foot – there were big tooth-marks around its ankle.”

It was very unusual to find rockhoppers on our shores and they were rarer than other crested penguins, Mrs Goldsworthy said. The nearest breeding site was Macquarie Island, halfway between New Zealand and the Antarctic. She and Ms Robb have been friends for about 15 years and have worked together on wildlife before, so she asked for the vet’s advice. ”Here I usually deal with companion animals – cats and dogs – but in the past I’ve operated on penguins and other wildlife, and on all kinds of birds from a pukeko through to a sulphur-crested cockatoo,” Ms Robb said.

The operation to remove the penguin’s foot took about 20 minutes and no special equipment was needed, although ”we did turn up the air-conditioning so it wasn’t too warm”. She saw treating wildlife as her ”social responsibility” and said there was no charge for the operation or care of the bird. ” I love the idea of being able to treat a rare bird like this and have it return to the wild,” Ms Robb said. The penguin is recuperating well back at the penguin hospital and was standing up on its stump, and balancing well, shortly after the operation, Mrs Goldsworthy said.

”It’s very special and has a lovely nature – not aggressive, but it is assertive. If it doesn’t like something, it’ll let you know.” ”Sue says it will take about a month to heal and then it’ll be heading south for its next adventure. I have every faith it will get back to Antarctica.” Penguins use their wings for propulsion through the water and their feet as rudders and it was already adapting to with changes to its stance. ”You can tell when they’re getting better – they get grumpy and start to jump against the pen when they’re ready to leave,” she said. The trust is a charity and relies on donations to fund its work. There are 13 penguins of four different species in the hospital.

Alexandra veterinarian Sue Robb with the injured rockhopper penguin after operating on it last week. The bird is recovering well and should be released to head back to the Antarctic next month.

World’s Oldest Penguin

The Penguin Post has learned that the skull of a 65-million-year-old penguin which spent the last decade wrapped in of all places a newspaper in a Christchurch, New Zealand garage could unlock the secrets of the bird’s evolution. Canterbury Museum scientists are analyzing the new fossil of Waimanu manneringi, named after the Christchurch amateur fossil hunter who was the first to find bones from the world’s oldest penguin. Al Mannering, who first found fossils of the bird at the Waipara River in 1997, made the new find in 2003 but did not realize its significance until preparing it late last year. ”I wrapped it in newspaper and left it in my garage for 10 years, then last year I thought, ‘I’d better have a go at that’. ”Once I realized what it was, I emailed [the museum] straight away.” Canterbury Museum senior curator Paul Scofield said the fossil, from the Paleocene era, was in ”exceptional” condition. ”On a worldwide basis, it would be as good as fossils of this age get.” Scofield said the penguin skull was one of the most important parts of the body for paleontologists, providing valuable hints about the bird’s history and its connection to other penguins. Museum scientists would compare the skull with those of thousands of other penguins to develop a ”family tree” and determine how the bird related to both modern penguins and the dinosaurs. The researchers would also do a CT scan of the skull at Christchurch Hospital, allowing them to reconstruct its brain and outline its abilities and lifestyle. ”As birds become specialists in flight or diving, it changes the way their brain works: now we can start to make guesses at how these animals actually lived,” Scofield said. The museum would work with American scientists from the University of Texas who had found similar fossils in South America, which had recently separated from New Zealand at the age the fossils dated back to. ”It’s a really sexy field in paleontology, because penguins were one of the earliest bird groups to evolve.” Scofield said the Paleocene era was ”absolutely crucial” to scientific understanding of modern birds and mammals, due to dramatic change which occurred during the period. ”As soon as we became free of dinosaurs, evolution went crazy,” he said.

Amateur fossil hunter Al Mannering, who discovered the skull of the world’s oldest penguin, left, which is shown compared with a modern penguin.

Students Help Create Penguin Facility

The Penguin Post has learned that school kids in New Zealand are helping restore blue penguin habitat as part of the development of a viewing facility at Pilots Beach, Taiaroa Head, in southern N.Z. which is due to open next month. Pupils from a variety of schools have been working hard weeding, digging holes and planting native plants at the beach as part of an Otago Peninsula Trust education program funded by Kids Restore New Zealand Environmental Trust. The work is part of the Pukekura Trust’s restoration of the area and includes a walkway from Taiaroa Head down to the beach, which, by opening night on October 16, will be lit by red LED lights at twilight to guide people down to a 100-person viewing platform. Blue Penguins Pukekura director of operations and wildlife Hoani Langsbury said information about the beach, the penguins and the area’s heritage and culture would be placed at the top and at intervals down the walkway. “It has taken two years’ planning and work to get to this stage.”

Little Blue Penguin of New Zealand

People would be guided to the platform after gathering at the albatross center, where they could buy tickets ($20 for adults, $10 for children and $50 for families) and receive instruction, including on the importance of being quiet. The platform, which would be lit by low intensity white light, also had access for the disabled. “We should no longer have visitors charging around with torches,” Mr Langsbury said. The trust had a concession from the Department of Conservation that allowed it to run the tours from twilight for a couple of hours, but the public was free to visit the area before that. The trust had nearly eradicated rabbits from the fenced beach area and had also, with the help of volunteers and school children, placed nesting boxes around the hills. An area for recreational access to the beach was also being created. The planting work had been funded by the Air New Zealand Environment Trust and there were 25,000 plants, mainly snow tussock and coprosmas, to be planted. Seventeen trailer loads of weeds had been removed.

Justin Copson (11), of Arthur Street School in Dunedin, plants tussock at Pilots Beach, as part of work to restore blue penguin habitat

Rescued Penguins Go Home

The Penguin Post has learned that penguins rescued from Napier’s Inner Harbor in New Zealand after a diesel spill earlier this month have been returned to their habitat.  The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s oil spill response team rescued the penguins after they were found covered in diesel fuel following the spill incident from a moored fishing boat on 7 September.  The three penguins were transferred to Massey University’s National Oiled Wildlife facility in Palmerston North for rehabilitation. The birds were cleaned and cared for at the facility and have since been swimming 2-3 times each day as part of the process to restore waterproofing to their feathers. The length of swims has increased each day. The test for release is swimming for six hours without getting wet feathers. All three birds passed this test on Monday. The penguins were transported from Massey University’s facility this morning, before being released back into Napier’s Inner Harbor. HBRC’s Incident Controller Bryce Lawrence says the penguins went straight to their burrows and the team is pleased to see the birds going home. “It is always good to see wildlife returned to their habitat. It was unfortunate that we had three oiled penguins but, given the conditions of this spill, we were fortunate that we could respond quickly and collect the diesel, and minimize the impact on the penguin population in the Inner Harbour,” said Mr Lawrence. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Enforcement Team is still investigating the exact cause of the spill to determine whether enforcement action is appropriate.

Rare Penguin Population In New Zealand On The Rise

The Penguin Post has learned that visitors to Milford Sound in southern New Zealand have been treated to increased sightings of the rare Fiordland Crested Penguin over the past fortnight. Southern Discoveries nature guide Dave Newman said the numbers of the penguins, known as tawaki, were encouraging. “There’s more penguins this year than we saw last year, which is really positive for the colony and great for our guests as there are only up to 3000 breeding pairs in existence.” The penguins have been seen by tourists aboard the Encounter Nature Cruise as it comes close to the colony in Penguin Cove, where the penguins make their homes during the breeding season from July to November, and again between January and March to moult. “We’ll expect to see the penguins here until November when their chicks are ready to head out to sea,” Mr Newman said. “There’s a real buzz when we first start seeing the penguins. They’re a very special bird as they’re so rare. We’re so lucky to be able to see them. New Zealand is visited by 13 of the world’s 18 penguin species, and of those only three breed on the mainland.

Fiordland Crested Penguins, of which this is an example, have been returning to Milford Sound in increasing numbers in recent weeks.

Penguin Needs To Eat

The Penguin Post has learned that a Little Blue penguin stranded in New Zealand needs some fish to make it back into the wild and bird rescuers want Aucklanders to throw out their lines and do their part. The unnamed penguin has been staying at the New Zealand  Bird Rescue Charitable Trust in Green Bay, where they have run out of fish to fatten up the seabird so he can return to the sea. It’s the sole survivor from 20 penguins which were brought into the center injured and malnourished last year.

The penguin has been at the trust for five months, after being found on Muriwai Beach with an injury from a boat propeller. Volunteer Stacey Teague said the penguin was lovable despite being a bit snappy. ”He’s a bit of a character. He’s supposed to be in hibernation so he’s a bit grumpy.” Trust manager Lyn MacDonald said she’s been able to keep the spirited penguin alive but they do not have enough sprats to get it fat and moulting. ”We’ve had to resort to fillets but it needs to eat whole fish with the bones and everything. ”They need to get really fat, it generally happens in April and they hide in little burrows for six weeks just living off their body fat while they grow nice new feathers.” Until the penguin grows waterproof feathers it can’t go anywhere. MacDonald said both the Green Bay trust and Tamaki Bird Rescue are struggling to get enough fish to feed the seabirds they look after. ”It’s been very hard to get the fish and we’re running out. We’ve had offers of money by a few people but we can’t buy the fish we need. We can’t feed seabirds any substitutes – they need fish.” Tamaki Bird Rescue volunteer Corina Hooper only has a week or two worth of fish left to feed the pied shag colony she cares for. The seabirds can’t be fed bait because of what it’s treated with. MacDonald said rescue centers rely on recreational fishers to keep their injured birds fed. ”We had great fishermen but they’ve damaged their backs and can’t get out there. They would get us small catches but it was regular and kept us going.” A few unusual visitors to the center didn’t help.”About two weeks ago we had two albatrosses and an Antarctic fulmar and an Antarctic petral come in and they’re big birds which eat a lot of fish. ”We had some prions and other seabirds too which really wiped us.” MacDonald is encouraging Aucklanders to grab their bait catchers and fishing lines and help feed the birds. “Even if you’re out and you get a few more sprats than you need to just put a few in the freezer for us.” If you’re in the neighborhood bring fish donations to NZ Bird Rescue Charitable Trust at 74 Avonleigh Rd, Green Bay or call 8169219.

Katrina The Penguin Gets A Roomate

The Penguin Post has learned that an intrepid Fiordland penguin that swam 2000 miles to Australia will soon be joined in her recovery at an animal rescue sanctuary by another wayfaring New Zealander – a seal pup. Animal sanctuary boss Aaron Machado said 2-year-old penguin Katrina, who has been recovering at the sanctuary in South Australia since washing up injured on a beach five weeks ago, was unlikely to welcome the new roommate in the 2000 square foot wetland enclosure. “She’ll be pissed off that I’ve put that ‘wet dog’ in there. She’s the queen of that place, she’s the boss.” The seal, named Emma, was recovering after surgery to remove rocks from her stomach, Machado said. “We’re getting overtaken by New Zealanders.” It was not unusual for New Zealand seals to be seen in Australian waters, he said. Katrina was making good progress, rebuilding muscles and tipping the scales at 7 just over pounds, almost double her rescued weight. “She’s still a grumpy little snot, but we love her anyway.” Staff were waiting a couple more weeks for Katrina’s feathers to grow back after surgery on a large gash to her abdomen. Once she was waterproof, she could be released into the wild. The signs were good so far, Machado said. He still wanted Katrina flown back to New Zealand, despite comments by Michelle Gutsell, Department of Conservation Te Anau office species recovery team leader, that the penguin had a good chance of making it under her own steam. But Machado worried current and wind conditions could push Katrina back to shore. Australian zoos were keen to secure Katrina, but he was determined to stop that happening. “We just want to get this penguin back where she belongs.”

Katrina on the mend

The Case Of The Disappearing Penguins

The Penguin Post has learned that New Zealand scientists are preparing a study to solve one of nature’s great mysteries, the disappearance of a rapidly dwindling breed of penguin every winter.  Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) are being funded by the U.S.-based National Geographic to discover where the missing rockhopper penguins go in winter.  A team of scientists will travel to the penguins’ breeding ground in New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Campbell Island to attach 88 miniaturized tracking tags to penguins’ legs next year.  “We don’t know where the penguins go during winter,” said NIWA scientist David Thompson.  “It could be a crucial stage in the breeding cycle for them. To successfully raise chicks, they need to come back to Campbell Island at the start of the breeding season in good condition,” he said.  “If they have a bad winter, they will come back to Campbell Island in poor condition. This stage of the annual cycle of the birds is likely to be very significant. To know nothing about where this stage takes place is a crucial gap in our understanding of the factors affecting the penguin populations.”  From 1942 to 1985, the Rockhopper penguin population at Campbell Island declined from about 800,000 breeding pairs to just 51,000 pairs, and the decline had continued since.  “They are unlikely to become extinct in the near future, but this represents a massive decline,” said Thompson.  The data obtained from the tags would shed light on the winter movements, distribution and habitat use of Rockhopper penguins.
“I wouldn’t think they go too far, they clearly can”t fly, however they can swim pretty fast,” said Thompson.  “They leave Campbell Island in April, and don”t reappear until early October. That gives them a few months to go exploring. I suspect they don”t go too far south, nor are they likely to go too far north. They probably stay at the same latitude, but disperse away from the island, spending that time feeding and regaining condition.”  Diminished food stocks probably caused the falling population, he said. “They eat little krill, crustaceans, juvenile and small fish and small squid. They have quite a broad diet. It”s thought that fluctuations in sea temperatures may have led to a reduction in the abundance or availability of their prey,” said Thompson.