Cape Town Nature Staff Rescue 25 Orphaned African Penguin Chicks

Penguin chicks rescued from starvation
Environment Writer
October 31 2008 at 08:29AM

CapeNature staff have rescued 35 orphaned African penguin chicks from Dyer Island off Gansbaai, one of the major breeding colonies for this increasingly threatened bird.

The chicks have been taken to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob), where they are to be hand-reared for three months and then released back into the wild.

Although the chicks are not strictly orphans, they have in effect been abandoned by their parents, which have begun to moult.

While the parents shed their old feathers and grow new ones, they lose the waterproofing supplied by their feathers and so don't go to sea to fish. Without their parents' feeding them, the chicks would die.

Normally CapeNature would allow nature to take its course, but because African penguin numbers have been declining rapidly, it intervenes to save as many of the birds as possible.

This year the penguin population has reached the lowest level recorded - only 26 000 breeding pairs, compared with two million pairs at the turn of the 20th century.

Venessa Strauss, chief executive of Sanccob, said in a statement yesterday: "This makes each individual chick very precious to our efforts to conserve this already vulnerable species.

"Research by the Fitzpatrick Institute of UCT found that the African penguin population was 19 percent higher today thanks to Sanccob's rehabilitation efforts."

Sanccob, which relies entirely on the public to continue its work to save this threatened species, hand-reared 841 orphaned chicks in 2006 and 481 last year. More than 80 percent were released back into the wild.

Raising orphans is part of the Chick Bolstering Project run by Sanccob in partnership with Bristol Zoo Gardens, International Fund for Animal Welfare, UCT's Animal Demography Unit, CapeNature, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, and Marine and Coastal Management.

The public can help cover the costs of rearing chicks through the Adopt a Penguin programme. Phone 021 557 6155 or see www.sanccob.co.za.


Story courtesy of iol.co.za @

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn20081031053756361C148947

Image of the Day

Antarctica, november 2007, originally uploaded by Martha de Jong-Lantink.

Friday Video!

This has to be my favorite penguin video of all time... why? The guy that made it added this nice piece of music from, the movie, Delicatessen. To me, it's perfection. Hope everyone else likes it, too. :)

New Zealand Penguin Rescue

What a great story! Thanks to Paul for showing me this video....

wiinterrr

Saving Penguins

Guy Rogers ENVIRONMENT & TOURISM EDITOR

MAN-MADE penguin nests, which are successfully replacing eroded penguin habitat in the Southern and Western Cape, and which could soon be introduced in Algoa Bay, have now revealed another benefit.

Wilfred Chivell, director of Gansbaai‘s Dyer Island Conservation Trust, which makes the nests, was in Port Elizabeth yesterday to meet penguin conservation organisations.

The igloo-like nests are about the size of the wild nest of an African penguin – big enough for a small terrier – and are made of fibreglass.

The trust‘s nesting project in the Cape is flourishing, with 800 established on Dyer Island and 76 on Robben Island. They have also been established at Betty‘s Bay and the trust wants to put in 100 to help protect Cape Town‘s Boulders colony.

African penguins in centuries past used to create burrows in layers of guano, but this resource was stripped and sold as fertiliser by “white gold” traders in an industry which ran from the mid-1800s to as late as the 1980s.

The penguins were forced to nest in the open, beneath low coastal vegetation, which left their eggs vulnerable to damage and to predation by kelp gulls, Chivell said.

“Our nests were a response to that problem, but now we‘ve found they‘re of great value in scientific terms. The birds don‘t run away anymore – if there‘s a need to catch and weigh chicks, for example. We know which birds belong to which site and studying them is easier.”

According to what Chivell has heard of the situation on Algoa Bay‘s Bird and St Croix islands – key breeding grounds for the global population, which stands at between 45000 and 60000 birds – there seems to be a necessity for the nests in Algoa Bay as well.

“SANParks has jurisdiction over the islands and we first have to see what they think. But I am hoping to be able to visit Bird (island) in January and, if SANParks approves, we would be willing to donate the first 50 nests.”

The trust has commissioned University of Cape Town student Lauren Waller to monitor them after they have been installed. It was her work that revealed how valuable the nests are.

A similar system was tried in Namibia but petered out and the Dyer project is now unique across the global Southern Africa range.

Funding for the project comes from the public, with individuals or families “buying” a nest. If a project was approved for Algoa Bay, the same marketing model would be presented in Port Elizabeth, Chivell said.

Bayworld, meanwhile, is continuing its penguin conservation on a different front.

Oceanarium curator Robyn Greyling confirmed yesterday that a penguin fledgling had been brought in after being found stranded and weak at Maitlands. “It was not injured or oiled but dehydrated.”

The youngster was stabilised and tested for avian malaria. It will now be transported down to Ajubatus at Cape St Francis for rehabilitation and release.

Greyling praised Maitlands resident Kelly Hall for bringing in the bird. “If a member of the public can walk up to a bird, as happened here, and it does not dash into the water, then there‘s a problem and the quicker it is brought to us the better chance we have of saving its life.”

Story from The Herald Online @

http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n12_30102008.htm

Image of the Day

penguin kiss, originally uploaded by Seeing Is.

Abandoned Chick Now Thriving

SHE'S come a long way for a chick whose parents abandoned her and left her to starve.

She's penguin F0054, and has surprised scientists by swimming an astonishing 1 250km from Dyer Island, off Gansbaai, around Cape Point and north to Mercury Island near Lüderitz in Namibia.

Deon Geldenhuys, CapeNature conservation manager on Dyer Island, said he knew penguins swam far afield when they were youngsters. But he had been surprised when Namibian conservation authorities contacted him to say they had seen a penguin wearing a flipper band with the number F0054.

"That's quite a distance for a little bird to swim," he said.

F0054 was born to parents on Dyer Island fairly late in the season and was not old enough to fend for herself when her parents began moulting.

When penguins moult, they lose the "wet-suit" effect their feathers give them and so don't go to sea to feed until their new feathers have grown. If they have a chick on the nest when the moult begins, the chick goes without food.

"If we'd left her on the nest, she definitely would have starved," Geldenhuys said.

"If the African penguin population were big and healthy we would not worry, but it's not. Numbers are dropping, so we do everything we can to help boost their numbers."

F0054 was collected in November last year, with other abandoned chicks, and taken to the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) in Table View.

She weighed 1,1kg. After Sanccob fattened her up, she was released at Dyer Island a month later, weighing 2,4kg.

"According to the Namibian guys, the penguin looked fine and healthy."

Story courtesy of iol.co.za@
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=vn20081022053650769C461870

The Forgotten Penguins of Victoria

Tiana Preston of Monash University examines one of St Kilda's little penguins.

Bay watchers to track 'forgotten' penguins

Peter Ker
October 27, 2008

THEY have been dubbed the "forgotten penguins" of Victoria, but the lives of St Kilda's little penguin colony will soon be far less private.

Researchers and conservationists have teamed up to create a high-tech tracking program for the St Kilda colony, amid fears that the penguins' health has been ignored during the dredging of Port Phillip Bay.

By taping GPS devices weighing just 30 grams to the backs of the birds, researchers will soon be able to trace their exact movements during their daily journey, which is believed to span about 30 kilometres and 12 hours.

A key aim of the project will be to determine how much time the penguins spend swimming and hunting in parts of the bay affected by the dredging, with initial trials suggesting there is significant overlap.

The famous penguins of Phillip Island have been extensively monitored, but environmentalists remain angry that no official measures were implemented for the St Kilda colony.

"The ones at St Kilda are at the coalface. They are the ones which are surrounded by the channel deepening project; they are the ones that are going to be surrounded by any ongoing sediment in the water or any sort of toxins that might be disturbed and spread around the bay," Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Chris Smyth said.

The ACF has teamed with Monash University PhD student Tiana Preston to conduct the study, which will run for the next month.

Dredging has the potential to affect penguins by creating a turbid plume in the water, which potentially threatens stocks of fish such as anchovies and, in turn, birds that feed on them.

Official monitoring of the Phillip Island penguins through winter showed healthy weights.

But Mr Smyth said the Phillip Island birds were not the best indicator of health in Port Phillip Bay, given their travelling range spreads from Western Port to Warrnambool.

An anchovy study by Fisheries Victoria during winter recorded more than 140,000 anchovies in the bay, but because the study was the first of its kind, officials were wary of using the data to judge the health of stocks.

Ms Preston said there was no evidence at this stage to prove that dredging had harmed the St Kilda birds, but the study would help all aspects of managing and protecting the colony.

Story and photo courtesy of theage.com.au @
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/bay-watchers-to-track-forgotten-penguins-20081026-5933.html#

Image of the Day

Yellow Eyed Penguin Chick, Bushy Beach, Oamaru, New Zealand, originally uploaded by laheringer.

Perry the Penguin

A Penguin painted in Kansas City, MO. Watch HERE

Image of the Day

IMG_4698, originally uploaded by klewfoto.

Image of the Day

Macaroni Penguin, originally uploaded by spoonofmilk.

Image of the Day

natural flow in the box, originally uploaded by **sirop.

Image of the Day

Stillness, originally uploaded by celialee.

King and Gentoo Penguins in the Osaka Kaiyukan, Japan

This Week's Pencognito!

Please visit Jen and all the pengies
HERE

Image of the Day

King penguin, originally uploaded by Aceduline.

3 Short Films--Adelie and King colony

Many thanks goes to TsavenNava for his personal videos.



Thanks to kepsg for this beautiful video

Finally-Good News

Penguins living it up

Posted Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:46am AEDT

The penguins at Victoria's Phillip Island Nature Park may need to go on a diet.

Researchers say they appear to have had a bumper winter feeding on anchovies and are weighing-in 10 per cent heavier than average.

The park's research manager, Dr Phillip Dann, says their weight gains should lead to better survival rates this year.

He says researchers tracked the penguins have been tracked as far as Portland, off Victoria's west coast.

"They've travelled a lot further than we all thought," he said.

"We're assuming that the penguins have been finding big schools of anchovy and getting a lot of food value out of them."

Article courtesy of ABC News Online (Australia) @
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/23/2399022.htm

Picture courtesy of The New England Aquarium @
http://www.neaq.org/about_us/news_and_media/photo_collections/index.php

Penguin Water Sports

Manchots
by Josy59

Image of the Day

Trapped. Macaroni penguin warming a chick, originally uploaded by yidnaMU.

Tin Penguin Clock

Artist Mark Brown makes mixed media sculptures and clocks in his backyard studio in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The Penguin Clock is one such creation.

As will become obvious if you look at it for a moment or two, it has been made from recycled kitchen pieces and vintage tins. No two designs will be exactly the same.

It costs $120 (around £70) from Uncommon Goods. If Penguins aren't your thing, there are other creatures clock available by the same designer.

Item info courtesy of Retro to Go @
http://www.retrotogo.com/2008/10/recycled-tin-pe.html

wiinterrr's comment: Yikes! That thing is downright scary!

Less Food=Less Penguins (A Lot Less)

The African penguin population in the Western Cape has plummeted from more than 30 000 breeding pairs in 2005 to just 12 000 in 2008 - the lowest level yet recorded.

On Dyer Island off Gansbaai, 90 percent of the penguins have disappeared in the past 30 years, and there are fears that the bird, which breeds only in South Africa and Namibia, may face extinction.

There has also been a huge decrease in penguin numbers in Namibia in the past 50 years.

Scientists say the drop in numbers is "alarming" and it appears a scarcity of food may be the cause.

Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) has set up a joint two-year programme with CapeNature to see whether closing fishing around the penguin breeding islands would boost their food source and help swell their numbers.

Fishing for sardines and pilchards, the penguins' main food source, has been banned since January in a 20km radius around Dassen Island off Yzerfontein on the West Coast.

Fishing is allowed around Dyer and Robben islands, the other two major breeding islands. Scientists are to compare the findings from the three islands.

One part of the project is to see how far penguins swim to fish, where they go, how many times they dive, to what depth, and the sea temperature.

Certain penguins are being fitted with tiny "backpacks" - global positioning system (GPS) transmitters - for about two days, then recaptured and the information downloaded.

Deon Geldenhuys, CapeNature conservation manager at Dyer Island, said: "We want to see how hard the penguins have to work to get their food.

It's too early to say anything for certain, but it looks as if the guys are working a lot on Dyer. They seem to be staying away longer and diving deeper."

The time penguins were away from their nests, their breeding success, and the trends in their breeding are also being recorded by MCM, says Rob Crawford.

Other than the GPS monitoring, several hundred penguins on Robben and Dassen islands have been fitted with microchips, similar to those for pets.

Transponder readers, set up at the island colonies, record each time the birds pass by. Penguin parents take turns going to sea to fish, with one staying at the nest.

melanie.gosling@inl.co.za

Article courtesy of IOL@
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=143&art_id=vn20081022053655908C612292

Highlighting the IFAW and Their Work with Penguins

6 October 2008 Press Release for the IFAW

(Rio Grande, Brazil) - Close to 400 rescued penguins took to the skies on a C-130 Hercules military aircraft bound for Pelotas, in southern Brazil where they were released back to their ocean home. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org ) assisted the Instituto Mamíferos Aquáticos (IMA) and Brazilian officials to save hundreds of juvenile Magellanic penguins that mysteriously stranded on the warm beaches of Salvador, 1,400 kilometers north of Sao Paulo.

The airlift departed from Salvador in the northeastern state of Bahía on Friday and flew 2,500 kilometers to reach its destination. Upon landing, the precious cargo of juvenile penguins was loaded onto trucks and headed for an overnight stay at the Center for Recovery of Marine Animals (CRAM). The next morning the rested birds were taken to Cassino beach. They were released with a smaller group of adult penguins that had been rehabilitated after becoming oiled. Experts hope these more mature and experienced birds will guide the younger animals south.

The Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) breed in large colonies in southern Argentina and Chile and migrate north as far as southwest Brazil between March and September. According to experts, a flow of warmer water (1°C higher than normal) caused the juvenile penguins to keep going north, past their usual range, where they are unable to find adequate food.

A cheerful crowd of onlookers watched as the birds entered the South Atlantic Ocean and quickly swam away. This release has gone into the record books as being the largest ever in South America with 373 penguins released at the same time.

“We are overjoyed to see these penguins waddle back to the ocean and have a second chance at life,” said Valeria Ruoppolo of IFAW. “Hundreds of penguins died in this unusual event and while media reports have often linked global warming to the penguins’ demise, at this point there is no way to know for certain why these animals stranded.”

The rehabilitated penguins carry bands on their flippers. Information obtained about these banded and released birds is critical to helping scientists determine the success of rehabilitation and learn about their migratory habits.

IFAW’s team of experts worked with the IMA in Salvador, Bahía, and the Instituto ORCA in Vitoria, Espírito Santo, to help save the penguins. The Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Resources (IBAMA) welcomed IFAW’s expertise for the rehabilitation of the stranded penguins in three different states.


IFAW’s staff worked closely with the authorities at IBAMA to advise on bird release criteria, banding and suitable locations to release these birds, where they can find enough fish to survive.

IFAW’s experience in rehabilitation has saved the lives of tens of thousands of penguins. In 2000, IFAW helped save an entire species — rehabilitating and releasing 19,000 African penguins caught in the Treasure oil spill off South Africa. Today, IFAW’s oiled wildlife response team is widely recognized as the world’s finest.

To read the IFAW blog and to learn more about supporting this awesome organization, go HERE
In the meantime, watch the videos:

A Peacock in the Land of Penguins

This is an awesome little video that teaches a very valid lesson; find it HERE

PS Thanks to Paul for the link and for being an inspiration to those who know him.

Image of the Day

EdinZoo 164, originally uploaded by sbohan.

Image of the Day

Sleepy King, originally uploaded by sbohan.

For yesterday... the 21st... and amazing shot.

Penguins Seeking Homes

A group of penguins seeks shelter under a bush at the refuge. Photo by Lorraine Adams.

Penguins seeking homes

By David Bruce on Sat, 4 Oct 2008
The Regions: North Otago | Your Town: Oamaru



The plight of homeless penguins at the Oamaru Creek refuge is upsetting Coastcare environmentalist Lorraine Adams.

She said the birds had no nesting sites, despite her attempts to put more nesting boxes in the refuge which stretches along the Oamaru foreshore from Holmes Wharf to the Oamaru Creek.

But the Oamaru blue penguin colony, which monitors the refuge on behalf of the Department of Conservation has not recorded any problems.

Monitoring was carried out daily and if problems were recorded they would be addressed, in consultation with the department, colony manager Jason Gaskill said.

Miss Adams said the situation had been aggravated by coastal erosion, which has washed away a large area of the refuge at its southern end.

Erosion protection work on the foreshore further north may also have buried potential nesting sites, forcing those penguins to the refuge.

Penguins are now preparing for the breeding season and Miss Adams said there were birds without nesting sites.

Some were trying to dig burrows because of a lack of nesting boxes.

"I've never seen so many penguins with nowhere to go," Miss Adams said.

Erosion had washed away rocks which had also provided nesting places and she had had to dig a path up the eroded bank to they could get to the reserve at the south end.

Miss Adams has been campaigning to have the refuge area enlarged, both before and after erosion which has reduced its area.

She estimated about 30 penguins were without nesting sites and at least 30 more boxes were needed.

Mr Gaskill said nothing had shown up in monitoring to indicate there was a problem relating to erosion or with nesting sites.

He said if people had problems or concerns about the refuge they should contact him.

Story and image courtesy of The Otago Daily Times
http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/north-otago/25570/penguins-seeking-homes

Study Compares DNA, Past and Present, to Determine What Drives Evolution

What drives evolution?

7 October 2008

Research looking at Antarctic penguins suggests that genetic evolution is not necessarily reflected in an animal’s physical appearance.

A study by scientists at The University of Auckland looked at the changes in genes between Adelie penguins over 37,000 years, comparing DNA extracted from ancient bones to DNA from living penguins. The research found that while genetic mutation and evolution had occurred at a faster rate than predicted, the penguins had changed very little morphologically over the same period.

"The Antarctic is the ideal place to study evolution, due to ancient remains being preserved in the cold, dry environment with little disturbance," says Dr Craig Millar of the School of Biological Sciences. "Genetic changes allow us to track the evolutionary relationships between species, but in the case of Adelie penguins we have found that genetic change is not necessarily equal to morphological change."

The research, conducted by scientists at The University of Auckland, Victoria University Wellington, Massey University and Griffin University (Queensland), is published in the journal PLoS Genetics. The four year study was funded by the Marsden Fund and the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution.

Story courtesy of University of Auckland @
http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/about/news/articles/2008/10/penguin_evolution.cfm

Perhaps a Penguin Paradise?

Marineland proposal: Dolphins out, penguins in

The Dominion Post (NZ) | Wednesday, 08 October 2008

A penguin paradise and a $4 million makeover are being put forward as ways of saving Napier's Marineland.

The two ideas are revealed in information published today as part of Napier City Council's process of consulting the public on the future of the zoo.

It closed to the public last month after the death of its last dolphin, Kelly.

Featuring penguins as the main attraction - to replace the performing dolphins - is a new idea from Marineland manager Gary Macdonald.

The makeover, expected to cost at least $4 million, is a concept researched by Wellington firm 3D Creative.

Mr Macdonald presented his penguin idea at a council seminar in August. "In the world of the oceans there are three species of animals that truly capture the imagination: cetaceans (whales and dolphins), sharks and penguins," he said.

Penguins were extremely popular in zoos around the world, and at the Christchurch Antarctic Centre.

Marineland made $33,000 in the past year just from photo sales of people posing with penguins. They were more popular than photos with dolphins.

Marineland houses little blue penguins and white-flippered penguins now, but Mr Macdonald envisages bringing in other, larger species. Ten of the world's 18 penguin species are found in or near New Zealand. "To have the birds visible through underwater windows as well as above ground in modern, well-designed displays would be a major plus," he said. Visitors could also swim with the penguins.

Several of the documents in the council files mention that Marineland is looking tired and out-of-date. Apart from the addition of the grandstand, it is virtually the same as it was when it opened more than 40 years ago.

The 3D Creative concept uses most of the existing infrastructure but transforms the flat, concreted area into a natural-looking landscape with rocks and plants.

Managing director Craig Turvey, who was a senior designer at Te Papa, estimated that this could be done, and modern information presentations added, for about $4 million. Some of the money could come from government agencies such as Niwa that wanted to present research and information to the public, he said.

Mr Turvey was confident that a modernised Marineland would attract enough visitors to make it viable. "It's got a brand you couldn't buy," he said.

"There is a romantic attachment to the brand. It's in an ideal location on Marine Pde. It would appeal to families and to schools - it has the potential to appeal to practically everyone."

Marineland could continue to have displays by seals and sea lions, and a theatre could be built under the grandstand - possibly with a moving taniwha to illustrate Maori legends, he said.

Story courtesy of The Dominion Post @
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4719414a6045.html

Dog Bands Should be Reinforced

Hard line urged on dog ban


By Chris Morris on Wed, 8 Oct 2008
News: Dunedin

Cr Dave Cull took the tough stance yesterday, angered a group of youths had been caught walking their dog into a yellow-eyed penguin nesting area at Okia reserve, on Otago Peninsula, two weeks ago.

The youths had ignored up to four signs advising dogs were banned from the reserve, which was home to 17 yellow-eyed penguin breeding pairs last year.

Speaking at yesterday's community development committee meeting in Dunedin, Cr Cull said he supported having new signs at some city beaches that explained why dogs were banned.

Dog owners should also be warned of the consequences of breaching the bans, including that their pets could be "shot on sight without warning", he said.

"You would only have to shoot one."

Contacted by the Otago Daily Times after the meeting, he said he was "reasonably serious" about the suggestion.

"We have got a situation where, potentially, through not caring about where their dogs are, people could be responsible for wiping out protected wildlife.

"It's what's more important - some idiot's dog or the penguins?"

Cr Fliss Butcher first raised concerns about penguins' safety yesterday, and urged the public to stick to the rules: "The last thing [penguins] want is some great big thundering dog chasing them out."

Cr Michael Guest - a former lawyer and district court judge - told yesterday's meeting he believed dogs could legally be shot if they were threatening protected wildlife, much the same as a farmer could shoot a dog threatening livestock.

Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust field manager David McFarlane said he supported greater enforcement action, but questioned whether a shoot-on-sight policy was appropriate.

It might be suitable for farmers or animal control officers, but: "To be honest, I think we would get into a lot of trouble," he said.

The incident at Okia reserve occurred during the breeding season when penguins were spending more time on land, he said.

"It's a no-dog area, full stop. We don't want any dogs going in there, on a leash or not."

However, fatal dog attacks on yellow-eyed penguins were relatively rare, with the last incident, in which six penguins were killed, occurring in the late 1990s at Katiki beach, south of Moeraki, Department of Conservation biodiversity assets programme manager David Agnew said.

Program courtesy of Otago Daily Times @
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/26178/hard-line-urged-dog-ban

Antarctic DNA gives climate coping clues

Adelie parent and chick





Antarctic DNA gives climate coping clues

Tuesday, 14 October 2008 Anna Salleh
ABC Science News


Researchers say Adélie penguins have been surviving extreme climate change in Antarctica for hundreds and thousands of years (Source: Griffith University)

DNA in the bones of Adélie penguins that survived the last ice age are helping to shed light on how other animals will cope with climate change, say researchers.

Evolutionary biologist Professor David Lambert of Griffith University in Brisbane and colleagues report their analysis of Adélie penguin DNA dating back to 37,000 years in the journal PLOS Genetics.

"Adélie penguins are a wonderful model to study the problem of climate change," says Lambert. "They have lived through temperature fluctuations much higher than those in equatorial regions."

Lambert says Adélie penguins have survived 10°C of warming since the last glacial maximum 18,000 years ago.

And he expects them to have been around 120,000 years earlier than that, during the peak of the ice age before last.

Adélie penguins are one of very few species that have survived in large numbers over such a long time, says Lambert.
Surviving climate change

Lambert says if species are able to move geographically there is evidence that they can combat climate change by staying within their preferred temperature range.

"The problem for Adélie penguins is they've got nowhere to go," says Lambert. "They're in the coldest place they can be."

He says the fact Adélie penguins have survived extreme changes in temperature may mean that some species are able to respond to climate change even when they can't move geographically.

Lambert and colleagues' research on the rate of evolution of Adélie penguins in Antarctica may help shed some light on why this is the case.
DNA analysis

The team analysed the number of mutations in the mitochondrial DNA of mothers and their chicks and compared this with DNA from ancestral penguins, taken from 37,000-year-old bones preserved in the extreme cold and dry conditions of Antarctica.

They found the rate of mutations between generations was the same as the rate over 37,000 years.

This is contrary to recent suggestions that evolution is faster over short time frames but slows down over long time frames, when the loss of genetic diversity due to speciation is taken into account.

Importantly, the rate of evolution of Adélie penguins found by Lambert and the team confirm earlier findings that the penguins evolve faster than previously thought, which may be one explanation for their ability to survive extreme variations in climate.

Other animals which have similarly high rates of evolution, are the tuatoara (a New Zealand reptile), bison, the brown bear and the cave lion, says Lambert.
Natural selection

Lambert says the DNA analysis has so far focused on genes not subject to natural selection.

Story and image courtesy of ABC News in Science:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/14/2389526.htm?site=science&topic=latest

He says these so-called "neutral" genes are important in developing an evenly ticking "molecular clock" for evolution.

Sequences under control of natural selection would change rapidly during some periods of time and hardly change at all at other periods of time.

Lambert says natural selection may also have played a role in Adélie penguin's survival in Antarctica and he hopes to also look at the mutation in genes that are subject to natural selection.
Raises questions

Evolutionary biologist Dr Jeremy Austin of the University of Adelaide says the work raises questions about the idea that evolution rates are time dependent.

But, he says it is possible that 37,000 years is not long enough for the slower evolutionary rate to show up.

"When we talk about evolutionary rates we're talking about things that are possibly a million years or more," Austin says.

He says sequencing even older DNA would be helpful as would comparing Adélie penguins with a sister species.

Lambert says he is confident the team will be able to obtain viable DNA from penguin remains preserved for hundreds of thousands of years many metres beneath the permafrost.

New SA Rehab Center Going Up

Swimming start for marine centre

Jenni Marsh HERALD REPORTER

ENDANGERED African penguins in the Eastern Cape are being given another shot at survival, as building work has now begun on a new rehabilitation centre.

The SA Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre is finally being constructed at Cape Recife, after five years of political wrangling between the metro and a private developer.

Libby Sharwood, trustee of Samrec, said the delays had caused the project to down-scale as building costs had gone up.

Consequently, office space on the site has had to be scrapped for a large intensive care unit.

She said that due to pollution and global warming African penguins, which now total 125000 in South Africa, are in grave danger.

“We have 10 years left to save them,” she said.

Global warming pushed cold currents further out to sea, meaning that penguins were having to swim 60km for food.

By the time they returned to shore the food was digested and had nothing to feed the chicks.

The new centre, on which building work began in September and is scheduled to open in April 2009, will help give these animals a chance to survive.

It will also double as a tourist attraction, giving visitors the chance to see the rehabilitation programmes in action.

A team comprised nearly entirely of volunteers will tend to penguins and baby seals.

In the event of an oil spillage, such as the one at Dom Pedro Wharf this week, the centre could care for up to 2000 penguins.

Algoa Bay is a hot spot for the rare African penguin which is one of the reasons the centre has been chosen for Cape Recife.

Fellow Samrec trustee and ornithologist Dr Norbett Klages said the impending opening of the Port of Ngqura was another large threat.

He said: “The more ships coming into the bay the more risk these ships will come to grief, which will be awful for the animals.”
Previous

Story courtesy of The Herald Online News @
http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n11_16102008.htm

Penguin Tours Again After 30 Year Absence

Plan for penguin tours to return
BY JARED LYNCH
18/10/2008

PENGUIN tours look set to make a comeback to London Bridge after a 30-year ban.

A south-west wildlife operator hopes to reintroduce fairy penguin walks at the popular landmark as part of a State Government plan to boost tourism.

Access to the beach was barred in 1979 after vandals destroyed penguin burrows, causing a significant decline in colony numbers.

But Parks Victoria is considering lifting restrictions on protected areas as part of the Government's four-year Nature Based Tourism Strategy.

Western Victoria MP John Vogels supported reopening London Bridge's beach and said the penguin walks would be an economic boost for the region.

The tours would be limited to 20 people and be at dusk when the penguins come ashore.

"I think this is excellent idea. This tour would be a drawcard to both domestic and international visitors," Mr Vogels said.

"Because it is held at dusk it would increase the length of stay and therefore the yield."

Mr Vogels urged Environment Minister Gavin Jennings in Parliament this week to support the plan, he said was sustainable and viable.

Former Department of Sustainability and Environment fisheries and wildlife officer Jonathan Austin would run the tours.

Mr Austin operates the Seals by Sea tour at Cape Bridgewater near Portland and has won several tourism awards for his work.

Mr Austin said the tour would not be the same as Phillip Island's penguin parade, where there was seating and lighting.

"There would be none of that," he said.

"Cameras would be banned. It would be just a guided walk where people would bring a mat and watch the penguins come on to the beach and chatter around."

Parks Victoria is examining Mr Austin's proposal but said it would be "quite a while yet" before a decision was made.

"The site is a special protection area and any change in use may require a legislative amendment," Port Campbell National Park ranger in charge Will Cox said.

Story and image courtesy of The Fairfax Standard
http://warrnambool.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/plan-for-penguin-tours-to-return/1336843.aspx#

Christchurch Greets Penguin Chick

Thanks Paul, for sending me the initial info--you're a gem!











City welcomes baby penguin
Oct 21, 2008 7:19 PM

Christchurch's international Antarctic centre is celebrating the birth, and survival of its first penguin chick.

It was born 16 days ago, but keepers have only just got their first glimpse.

It was an anxious morning for keeper Sally Rogers. After listening to a baby monitor for over two weeks, she opened the nest for the very first time to show visitors her prize penguin chick.

The penguins' nest hasn't been cleaned in three months, as keepers didn't want to disturb the parents. Rogers apologised with a laugh for the "three months worth of poop."

Unfortunately for Sally, Mum was in the mood for biting, the keeper using her hand as a decoy to get a better look at her little bundle. But with her out of the way, ONE News could distinctly count two eyes, two flippers and a beak.

Rogers cannot say yet whether the chick is a boy or a girl. "It's too early to tell. But basically, it's very very soft and very cute...it's come out of a tiny little egg and it's just packed on the pounds, which is really good to see."

The new arrival's parents are fairly interesting themselves. Everybody thought new mother Zane was a male until he started laying eggs. And the father, the appropriately-named Fats, seemed an unlikely dad, notorious as the centre's laziest and fattest penguin.

The fluffy family will spend a few more weeks together, before Junior gets kicked from the nest. In the meantime, his keepers will focus on finding a name for the pint-sized penguin.
Source: ONE News
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318241/2219549

First photo from Stuff.co.nz 2
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4735208a26642.html

Percy the Penguin Ready To Go Home

Percy the yellow-eyed penguin heads for the sea at Bushy Beach. Photo by Sally Rae.

Percy the penguin bounces back in style

Home » Your Town » Oamaru
By Sally Rae on Tue, 21 Oct 2008
The Regions: North Otago | Your Town: Oamaru

Percy the penguin is one high-flying bird.

After more than two months of rehabilitation and veterinary care, Percy, a 1-year-old yellow-eyed penguin, was released at Bushy Beach recently by local residents Colin Wolverson and Sue Downton and Oamaru Veterinary Services vet Claire Muir and quickly headed out to sea.

Percy was found unwell and first treated for fungal and bacterial infections in August.

Department of Conservation staff and Mr Wolverson and Ms Downton noticed the penguin, though recovering well from the infections, was not oiling himself.

Doc ranger Kevin Pearce said he could not reach around to his oiling gland.

There seemed to be something wrong with his neck and, after consultation between staff at Oamaru Veterinary Services and Massey University, it was decided to send the bird to the university's wildlife hospital at Palmerston North.

A CT scan found Percy could not reach his oil gland because of damaged ligament in his neck.

The ligament had returned to its usual flexibility and the oil gland was easy for him to reach.

Percy's health and weight had returned to normal and, with well-oiled feathers, he was now waterproof and able to go out to sea.

Percy had returned to his old stomping ground "very round and very feisty", Doc ranger Helen Jones said.

Mr Wolverson, who cared for Percy for about three and a-half weeks, said he enjoyed his involvement with the yellow-eyed penguins.

He chatted to tourists, helped them locate the birds and gave them information.

The couple were now looking after two other penguins - Kenneth, a juvenile yellow-eyed with a dislocated toe, and Joan, a little blue with a "burnt bum", with guidance from Massey University and Oamaru Veterinary Services.

Story courtesy of Otago Daily Times @
http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/north-otago/28241/penguin-home-after-treatment

Image of the Day

Taronga Zoo, originally uploaded by meerkat woman.

Penguins at Burger King-Again!

Thanks to Nothing But Penguins for the info!!!

http://www.nothingbutpenguins.com/

Image of the Day

La la la laaaa... (Duett), originally uploaded by /blaugrau\.

Image of the Day

Adelie Penguin, originally uploaded by Aleutian Fox.

This week's Pencognito!

Please visit Jen and all the pengies

HERE

Senior Citizens Share Day with Penguins

Wed, Oct 15, 2008

Adopted penguin delights seniors

By Senior Recreation

seniors took and hour-long trek to Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach. The prime reason for this trip was to visit "Raven" the eldest penguin at the aquarium, and the adopted "child" of the Pemberton seniors.Raven was the very first penguin brought to Jenkinson's when they decided to build the exhibit. He had been a resident of the Baltimore Aquarium and they generously donated him. received his name in honor of the Baltimore Ravens. The seniors enjoyed watching the feeding of the penguins and cheered Raven on as he tried to get more than his fair share. A staff member enters the display with buckets of fresh fish and slowly hands them out so each penguin will have a meal. Some try to snatch the fish from another's mouth while others like to catch their fish while swimming in the water. Raven has a wife, "Checkers" and he spent a lot of time grooming her and cuddling up close. He provided quite a show for the seniors.

African penguins are not very large, weighing only a few pounds. They actually do not like the very cold weather. They come from the southern tip of Africa and the surrounding islands. Their home at Jenkinson's is quite pleasant, a pool for swimming and a small "cave" for each pair of "married" couple, which mate for life. If you decide to visit them, try to get there before their 11 a.m. feeding time so you can observe their many antics trying to snatch the tiny fish.


Article courtesy of the South Jersey Local News
http://www.southjerseylocalnews.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Weekly;!-1170456366?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_wk_article&r21.pgpath=%2FSJL%2FNews%2FCommunity+News&r21.content=%2FSJL%2FNews%2FCommunity+News%2FTopStoryList_Story_2519251

Penguin Home Soda Maker

The Home Soda Maker starter kit runs $219.99 and includes the machine itself, two glass carafes, and two big bottles of CO2 which should provide you with about 120 bottles of carbonated water. There’s also the “Plus Package” which costs $269.99 and includes one extra bottle of CO2.

You can use the machine to simply make fizzy water, but the real fun starts when you mix in various flavors. These “SodaMix” bottles cost $5 each and make 12 liters. Aside from soda flavors, you can buy mixes to make flavored water and tonic as well.

wiinterr's comment: Yikes! A penguin needs to stick to buying her soda at the store!

More Penguin Art Up for Sale

Penguin Art Up for Grabs: Mystic Aquarium announces second annual Penguin 5k
Posted by Kristal Spence on Oct 16 2008, 04:50 PM

Becky Giantonio, the Mystic Aquarium’s assistant director of media and public relations, recently announced the second annual Penguin 5k Run or Walk scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. The event will raise money for aquarium research and conservation efforts around African penguins.
According to Giantonio, African penguin populations have experienced a significant decline in the past three years and are coming closer to making the endangered species list.

“The event consists of a 5k run on a trail, field, and road course, two-mile walk, and quarter-mile kids’ race,” she said in a recent statement. “The walking route winds through the aquarium and Olde Mistick Village. The top three runners in each of eight age divisions for males and females will receive a ceramic tile featuring the penguins’ artwork, and the top fund-raiser will be awarded a larger original piece of penguin art on a canvas.”
Two of the aquarium’s penguins, she explained, recently put their feet to work, creating a unique work of art.

“To create their one-of-a-kind works, the penguins stepped in multicolored paints and walked on the tiles and canvas,” Giantonio continued. “The penguins will also play important roles on race day, greeting runners and walkers at both the start and finish lines, as well as kicking off the race with their calls.”

For the first time this year, Giantonio said, the event includes a merchants’ competition, open to local business teams, and a middle school cross-country team competition. The winners of both competitions will receive an engraved trophy that will be passed on to each year’s winning team. Each of the members on the middle school winning team will also receive a meet-and-greet with a penguin.

“The runner-up will receive a free Penguin Encounter, during which he or she will interact face to face with a penguin, and participants who raise $50 or more will get a free commemorative race T-shirt,” she continued, adding that all participants will receive free admission to Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration on race day.

Visit mysticaquarium.org to download a registration and donation form. The entry fee for adults is $25 and $10 for children ages 3 to 13. If you are unable to participate but would like to make a donation, send e-mail to sponsorship@mysticaquarium.org or call 860-572-5955, ext. 553. For more information, visit mysticaquarium.org or e-mail Race Director John Trahan at jdtrahan@comcast.net.

Article courtesy of The Mystic Times @

http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/mystic_times/archive/2008/10/16/penguin-art-up-for-grabs-mystic-aquarium-announces-second-annual-penguin-5k.aspx

Image of the Day

Fiordland Crested Penguin, originally uploaded by Photovolcanica.

Image of the Day

Water off a Penguins back, originally uploaded by Heaven`s Gate (John).

Thanks to the "Nothing But Penguins" website for the thumbs up to this picture.

Image of the Day

Happy Feet?, originally uploaded by John Perriam.

Who does these fine feet belong to???

A Macaroni penguin. :)

Videos from TsavenNava

Adelie DNA --Climate Coping Within the Species

Antarctic DNA gives climate coping clues

Tuesday, 14 October 2008 Anna Salleh
ABC Science Online


Researchers say Adélie penguins have been surviving extreme climate change in Antarctica for hundreds and thousands of years (Source: Griffith University)
Related Stories

* Global warming may wipe out most birds
* Tropics the hot spot for speedy evolution
* A faster evolutionary clock?

DNA in the bones of Adélie penguins that survived the last ice age are helping to shed light on how other animals will cope with climate change, say researchers.

Evolutionary biologist Professor David Lambert of Griffith University in Brisbane and colleagues report their analysis of Adélie penguin DNA dating back to 37,000 years in the journal PLOS Genetics.

"Adélie penguins are a wonderful model to study the problem of climate change," says Lambert. "They have lived through temperature fluctuations much higher than those in equatorial regions."

Lambert says Adélie penguins have survived 10°C of warming since the last glacial maximum 18,000 years ago.

And he expects them to have been around 120,000 years earlier than that, during the peak of the ice age before last.

Adélie penguins are one of very few species that have survived in large numbers over such a long time, says Lambert.
Surviving climate change

Lambert says if species are able to move geographically there is evidence that they can combat climate change by staying within their preferred temperature range.

"The problem for Adélie penguins is they've got nowhere to go," says Lambert. "They're in the coldest place they can be."

He says the fact Adélie penguins have survived extreme changes in temperature may mean that some species are able to respond to climate change even when they can't move geographically.

Lambert and colleagues' research on the rate of evolution of Adélie penguins in Antarctica may help shed some light on why this is the case.
DNA analysis

The team analysed the number of mutations in the mitochondrial DNA of mothers and their chicks and compared this with DNA from ancestral penguins, taken from 37,000-year-old bones preserved in the extreme cold and dry conditions of Antarctica.

They found the rate of mutations between generations was the same as the rate over 37,000 years.

This is contrary to recent suggestions that evolution is faster over short time frames but slows down over long time frames, when the loss of genetic diversity due to speciation is taken into account.

Importantly, the rate of evolution of Adélie penguins found by Lambert and the team confirm earlier findings that the penguins evolve faster than previously thought, which may be one explanation for their ability to survive extreme variations in climate.

Other animals which have similarly high rates of evolution, are the tuatoara (a New Zealand reptile), bison, the brown bear and the cave lion, says Lambert.
Natural selection

Lambert says the DNA analysis has so far focused on genes not subject to natural selection.

He says these so-called "neutral" genes are important in developing an evenly ticking "molecular clock" for evolution.

Sequences under control of natural selection would change rapidly during some periods of time and hardly change at all at other periods of time.

Lambert says natural selection may also have played a role in Adélie penguin's survival in Antarctica and he hopes to also look at the mutation in genes that are subject to natural selection.
Raises questions

Evolutionary biologist Dr Jeremy Austin of the University of Adelaide says the work raises questions about the idea that evolution rates are time dependent.

But, he says it is possible that 37,000 years is not long enough for the slower evolutionary rate to show up.

"When we talk about evolutionary rates we're talking about things that are possibly a million years or more," Austin says.

He says sequencing even older DNA would be helpful as would comparing Adélie penguins with a sister species.

Lambert says he is confident the team will be able to obtain viable DNA from penguin remains preserved for hundreds of thousands of years many metres beneath the permafrost.

Story courtesy of ABC Science Online @

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/14/2389526.htm?site=science&topic=latest

South Georgia Newsletter-Penguin News-September 2008

Oiled Penguins

At the end of August large numbers of oiled penguins were seen on South Georgia, and 7% of the Gentoo Penguins at Maiviken were found to be oiled, some very badly.


Oiled penguins were coming up on the beaches at King Edward Point (KEP) and Bird Island (BI) (seen in these locations as they are the only two inhabited areas of the Island). (See last month’s newsletter).


In an attempt to investigate the extent of the problem, in early September three sorties were made by boat and ship to penguin colonies and roosts up and down the northeast coast.


On September 2nd the small boats from KEP were used to visit the vast King Penguin colony at St Andrews Bay. Around 1% of birds there were oiled. More oiled Gentoo Penguins were seen on the beaches in the bays returning north. Further checks were made in the Stromness Bay area on September 8th where only a few oiled birds were seen.




On September 11th and 12th the Fishery Patrol Vessel “Pharos SG” was used to visit the King Penguin colonies and Gentoo roosts at Fortuna Bay and the Bay of Isles. No oiled birds were seen. The last oiled penguin was seen on September 22nd.


The source of the oil affecting the penguins is believed to have been offshore; no inshore birds such as Seagulls, Shags or Terns have been seen oiled.


With the exception of a known and persistent small oil leak from a sunken whale catcher at Leith harbour, no oil was seen inshore.


Oil samples were collected from the feathers of affected birds and the wreck at Leith and have been sent for analysis.




Also, an update on King Penguin winter breeding at South Georgia:



And one last look at the Kings and Fur Seals on the island, before we end this month's SG news:

Image of the Day

Royal penguins, originally uploaded by lin padgham.