Dec 26, 2011
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A quest has led to a decade of trips for one First Coast couple.
Peggy Wilchek, a volunteer at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, has a specialty - penguins.
"It's just the feeling that they give you," Wilchek explained.
That feeling has taken Wilcheck around the globe. It all started 10 years ago, on a trip to Antarctica with her husband.
"I was awed," Wilchek said. "That nature put together such a beautiful... 'cause King penguins are gorgeous. Their bill plates are orange, their ear patches are golden yellow. You're just in a different world."
Home video from the couple's trips shows not only the visitors' curiosity, but also the penguins'.
"Peggy's busy making friends with an Oakum boy there," Her husband explained in one video, as a large King penguin made his way right up to Wilchek. "They're very curious. We're supposed to keep 15 feet away but you can't do that when they come right up to you!"
The incredible experience sparked what Wilchek calls her Penguin Quest: to see all 18 species of penguins in their natural habitats.
Penguins like the Macaroni, Galapagos and Humbolt have taken her to four continents.
The most extreme experience: a month aboard a Russian icebreaker down into the Weddell Sea. "That was the most challenging trip, but yet the most rewarding because that was the only way to see the Emperor penguins." Wilchek said. "It was an unbelievable experience."
Wilchek's enthusiasm took her around the world and brought her back home to the Jacksonville zoo, where the former nurse found a way to get involved with the zoo's penguins.
"It's just an inside feeling that just kept growing," Wilchek said. "When we would go to places that had aquariums and I would see volunteers. Oh, that was my dream to be a volunteer with penguins. And now I get to do it!"
The zoo's 11 Magellanic penguins need a lot of care. Along with talking to visitors, Peggy helps the staff with things like taking water temperature, feeding and cleaning the rooms.
The retired nurse said scrubbing is something she's knows well.
"You know, at the end of the day when I have all these rooms nice and clean and ready for the penguins, knowing that I've made it cleaner and allowed the staff time to do some of the other things they need to do, that's really important for me."
But no one at the zoo calls her Mrs. Wilchek, or even Peggy. Instead, her dedication has given her a nickname: Penguin Peggy.
Source: First Coast News
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