Birmingham centre to become home to colony of Gentoo Penguins
Gentoo Penguins
Birmingham is set to get a chilly Antarctic blast - but it's got nothing to do with the weather. The National Sea Life Centre Birmingham has announced a new Penguin Ice Adventure attraction, set to open in time for the Easter holidays in 2014.
The new habitat will give visitors the chance to come face-to-face with a colony of Gentoo Penguins.
Offering a real insight into the lives and quirky habits of the
Gentoo, Penguin Ice Adventure will offer multiple viewing platforms to
watch the birds as they dive beneath the freezing waters and play in
their icy home.
With indoor temperatures of eight degrees Celsius, visitors will need
to wrap up warm, although the playful penguins will feel right at home.
Guests will be able to hear the unmistakable trumpeting sound of the
Gentoo as it throws its head back and communicates with its feathered
friends.
With interactive experiences, visitors will be able to touch the iced
environment that the penguins call home as well as do their best
imitations of the waddling birds in specially designated areas within
the attraction.
There will also be opportunities to watch the penguins being fed three times a day.
Gentoo Penguins
Amy Langham, General Manager at The National Sea Life Centre
Birmingham, said: “Penguin Ice Adventure promises to be very different –
it will give people the opportunity to journey into the Antarctic and
explore the world of the Gentoo Penguin.
"The birds - which are classified as near-threatened on the IUCN
(International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List - have been
bred together at Sea Life Centre Melbourne as part of our Breed, Rescue,
Protect programme and are being transported here to their brand new,
specially-built home.
“We want to inform and educate our visitors about the hardships that
sea and marine creatures face, whether as a result of global warming,
threats from mankind or natural occurrences but at the same time we want
people to meet this colony and get to know the penguins as they thrive
in their carefully created habitat that will give a real insight into
the personalities and quirks of these beautiful birds.”
As well as the Gentoo colony, Penguin Ice Adventure will feature the cold water-loving lumpsucker fish.
The feature represents a £2.5 million investment for the attraction
which has seen a record number of guests since it opened in 1995.
The attraction in the heart of the UK’s second city is already home
to more than 1,000 creatures including Hammerhead sharks, a Giant Sea
Turtle, seahorses, otters and rays. In addition to Ice Adventure,
highlights include an interactive rockpool, a 4D cinema and the 360
degree ocean tunnel.
The Penguin Camera is located on Torgersen Island (64°46’S, 64°04’W), off the coast of Anvers Island and less than a mile from Palmer Station. Torgersen Island is home to a colony of Adélie penguins numbering approximately 2,500. This camera is seasonal and operates primarily from October to February, the Adélie breeding season. The camera is solar-powered and may sometimes experience brief outages due to inclement weather. School classrooms and other educational demonstrations will often take control of the camera, moving it to gain better views of the colony.
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