Thursday, April 24, 2014

Dead penguins at Encounter Bay

The penguin community is under threat on Granite Island and on Wednesday, April 16, four more penguins were found dead.

Four penguins were discovered caught in a deep sea commercial fishing net washed up on the other side of the rock wall at the Bluff Boat Ramp.

National Parks and Wildlife and the City of Victor Harbor mayor Graham Philp were called to the scene where the penguins were discovered. "I was alerted, along with a ranger from Parks and Wildlife that there were four dead penguins at the Bluff Boat Ramp and I was so upset," Mr Philp said. "It is just so upsetting when you bear in mind what is happening on Granite Island and it is so disappointing they would be caught in a fishing net."

Fifteen years ago there were 1500 Little Penguins on Granite Island, in the 2011 census 102, 2012 there were 26 and in 2013 there was evidence of 35.Many people are quick to blame seals for being the reason for the penguins' declining numbers, but this net is proof that it's also what humans are doing. - Tour guide Stephen Hedges

According to Mr Philp the penguins were frozen and taken for scientific research to identify the cause of death and where exactly they came from. "Until we find out more it only adds to what is happening statewide to our penguins," he said.

Stephen Hedges works on Granite Island conducting penguin tours and said the penguin tours are quite popular at the moment. "Many people are quick to blame seals for being the reason for the penguins' declining numbers, but this net is proof that it's also what humans are doing," Mr Hedges said. "When the numbers are so low, to lose four in one hit is especially sad. We have been very busy this holiday season. We have run tours every night and been fortunate to see between four and 10 penguins, which is seasonally a pick up on the past 12 months. We have also seen a big increase of people not on tour, which at times has been quite stressful for the wild penguins."

Mr Hedges has tips for visitors to Granite Island.

1 No white lights, as this can blind the penguins, which could make feeding, avoiding predators and breeding on Granite Island difficult.
2 Stay well back, at least five metres, as they are small nervous birds and causes stress all year round.
3 Stay as quiet as possible, as they have excellent hearing.
4 Do not block their path coming in from the sea. This happens many times with people standing on the sea wall above them.

This could force them back into the sea or stop them from landing, which is once again stressful and dangerous with possible predators. "Remember that the island closes for two hours, one before sunset and one after, to try to protect the few penguins we have and we encourage people to join a tour where guides are the best way to safely see and learn about penguins," Mr Hedges said.

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