Dance party planned in critical Little Penguin habitat at Store Beach shut down by police

• Manly Daily
• January 28, 2014

Police managed to stop a 'location party' being held in a penguin habitat on Australia Day. Source: News Limited

POLICE managed to stop a "location party" being held in a penguin habitat on Australia Day.

The dance party was due to start late on Sunday, with the location only revealed to would-be attendees by social media at the last minute. But police got late word of what was planned and a generator was found at Store Beach, which is only accessible by water and is a critical habitat for little penguins.

At nearby Collins Beach, the police found sound equipment that was about to be taken to Store Beach by water. Even as the police were ordering the owners of the sound equipment to leave Collins Beach, hundreds of intending partygoers arrived, expecting to walk or float around to Store Beach.

Little Penguins at Store Beach avoided being caught in a dance party after police stepped in. Source: News Limited

To ensure the wellbeing of the penguins, water police officers were deployed on Store Beach to prevent anyone landing there. Northern Beaches local area commander Superintendent Dave Darcy said the National Parks and Wildlife Service was adamant a dance party at Store Beach was unacceptable. "The organisers didn't (think) very long or hard about the location," he said. "Once the party had started, it would have been almost impossible to stop - it would have been a real challenge to disperse that many people. So, penguins 1, dancers nil."

Another dance party kicked off at Delwood Beach, between Manly and Fairlight, at 9pm, but the police quickly closed it down.

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