Pennies for Penguins Partnership

Pennies for Penguins Partnership Between Mystic Aquarium and The Promenade Shops

By Becky Giantonio

Mystic, CT - Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration and The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor, Conn., have teamed up to help save the rapidly declining African penguin population. Through August, the aquarium and more than 15 stores at Evergreen Walk will collect “Pennies for Penguins” to help our feathered friends. Aquarium guests and Evergreen Walk customers can also enter to win a one-of-a-kind piece of art created by the aquarium’s penguins, awarded monthly through August.

The “Pennies for Penguins” campaign kicks off on Saturday, May 16, during “Paws on the Promenade” at Evergreen Walk from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring afternoon host Damon Scott from WTIC-FM. Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration’s booth will offer the chance to win free aquarium admission tickets, a family membership or a painting made by the penguins with their feet, as well as information on the plight of the African penguin.

Over the last five years, the world’s African penguin population has decreased by 42 percent. In 2000, before the Treasure oil spill, approximately 11,000 African penguins were breeding and living on South Africa’s Robben Island, the third largest breeding island for African penguins. Today, less than 4,500 call the island home. In December 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the African penguin as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The African penguins at Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration are helping their relatives across the world. They play an integral role in the African Penguin Species Survival Plan, and the aquarium staff’s work with them is helping researchers better understand penguins in the wild. In fact, the aquarium is a leader in a collaborative, nationwide effort to assist researchers in South Africa.

Last year, staff from the aquarium’s animal care, education and research departments got together to form the Penguin Task Force. Their mission is to examine all factors possibly affecting the penguins and develop a plan for the aquarium to lead and assist with education, research and conservation efforts of these species.

“Our mission is to help field researchers by sharing information, opening lines of communication and soliciting assistance from other institutions that participate in the African Penguin Species Survival Plan,” said Gayle Sirpenski, a member of the task force and co-coordinator of the African Penguin Species Survival Plan. “Having the penguins in our collections is wonderful, but we have a larger purpose: saving the species.”

Donations to help the African penguins can also be made at mysticaquarium.org.

This partnership to save the African penguins was made possible by WTIC-FM (96.5).

About Sea Research Foundation, Inc.
Mystic Aquarium, Institute for Exploration and Immersion Learning are divisions of Sea Research Foundation, Inc., a private, non-profit, charitable organization incorporated in the State of Connecticut. The mission of Sea Research is to inspire people to care for and protect our ocean planet through education, research and exploration.

To view Mystic Aquarium's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-38-Mystic_Aquarium_&_Institute_for_Exploration

Source:
http://www.zandavisitor.com/newsarticle-1459-Pennies_for_Penguins_Partnership_Between_Mystic_Aquarium_and_The_Promenade_Shops

Zoo's penguins finally on view

Zoo's penguins finally on view
Cloudy water kept visitors from seeing main attraction

By FIONA COHEN
SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COM

Ten days after the public opening of Woodland Park Zoo's new Humboldt penguin habitat, one of the $6.5 million exhibit's problems was solved.

People could see the penguins.

For the first part of May, that was not the case. An algae bloom clouded the water, making it hard to see far in the tank. And the penguins didn't help. The 20 birds clustered in the deep end of the exhibit, well under the murky water.

Probably the worst day was May 9, when a record crowd of 14,700 people came through the zoo gates enjoying a Mother's Day promotion and sunny weather.

But by last Wednesday, viewers could finally see the back wall of the tank from all the windows.

Monica Lake, the project manager for the exhibit, was thrilled.

"I dropped to my knees this morning and prayed to the god of water clarity," she said.

The reason the water clouded up had to do with the filtration system the penguin exhibit used. Rather than draining and refilling the tank, the zoo reuses the exhibit's water -- a practice that saves an estimated three million gallons annually.

When it leaves the penguin tank, the water passes through a wetland area just outside the exhibit entrances, then goes through some mechanical and biological filters before returning to the water. All 41,000 gallons circulate every 36 minutes.

Bacteria on the filters remove ammonia from the water -- but those bacteria take time to grow. Meanwhile ammonia was building up in the tank, and the water turned cloudy.

But the problem is temporary, said Ted Maranda, the civil engineer who designed the system -- and many other aquariums around North America.

"Once the bacteria gets settled in, they take ammonia and the water all of a sudden magically clears up," he said.

Maranda said zoo staff made the situation worse by washing out the particulate matter filters too often. The filters work better when they're dirty, he explained.

"They just had to leave it alone," he said.

Maranda expects that the visibility will continue to be good -- though he can't say for sure. It's possible that as the temperature changes over the year, there may be other algae blooms.

"Until you're operating this system over a year, you don't know what to expect from seasonal changes," he says.

The same week the water cleared, the penguins started to spend more time at the shallow end of the exhibit. They started playing in the exhibit's wave feature -- a spot they had avoided since they arrived to the pool on April 7.

When they had their weekly live trout feeding on Friday, several penguins darted after the fish in the shallow end -- led by Raul, a male with a blue-and-white marker on his right wing.

Raul is a particularly intelligent and bold penguin, said Celine Pardo, one of the zoo's two penguin keepers.

"He's the only one that's figured it out," she said.

It was Pardo's day off, but she came to watch the feeding.

"I like to see them having fun," she said.

Each penguin has a distinct personality. Dora, who has a yellow tag on her left wing, is a fussy eater. During frozen fish feedings, she usually hangs back while the keepers give out herring and capelin, only eating when they're putting out silver-sides. Meanwhile, Burkles, a penguin with a white tag on his right wing, likes to help himself. He'll walk behind his keepers and look in their pockets, or try the food bucket.

"He's a bucket diver," Pardo said.

Burkles was less keen on catching live fish. John Samaras, the other penguin keeper, had to nudge him into the water.

Humboldt penguins come from the coasts of Chile and Peru. They are an endangered species, with 12,000 or fewer remaining.

There are 10 males and 10 females in the Woodland Park Zoo exhibit, all from other North American zoos. Some have already formed pair bonds, but zoo staff don't expect them to breed soon. The nest holes in the exhibit's artificial cliffs are blocked up, to be opened next spring.

But eventually, the zoo should be getting some new arrivals, in the form of chicks. The exhibit can house up to 60 penguins.

Lake said the zoo opened the exhibit, water problems and all, because people wanted to see the animals.

"We could have opened the exhibit later, but people were just climbing the walls to get in there," she said.

Some visitors on Mother's Day weekend were disappointed they couldn't see the birds.

"What we got mainly were people concerned that they had to lift the kids to see the penguins," zoo spokeswoman Rebecca Whitham said.

As for the penguins, they like seeing the people.

"The birds enjoy the public. They like to look at them through the glass," Pardo said. "They like little kids with shiny shoes and sunglasses and fast-moving hands."

Fiona Cohen is a Seattle-based freelance writer. She blogs at naturegeeknw.blogspot.com.

Source:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/406281_penguins18.html

Image of the Day

Coppia pinguini
Originally uploaded by Tartashark

Magel chicks from Peninsula Valdes in Patagonia (Argentina)

What is eating into St Croix penguin numbers?

PENGUIN PARTNERSHIP: Walmer 6th Avenue BP service station‘s Ian Hilder (left), researcher Dr Lorien Pichegru and Raggy Charters owner Lloyd Edwards have teamed up in the penguin research project.


What is eating into St Croix penguin numbers?

2009/05/17
Luyolo Mkentane
WEEKEND POST REPORTER


THE alarming decline of the African penguin population on Algoa Bay‘s St Croix Island – numbers have dropped by a startling 66% in four years – is the subject of intense research by an international researcher who will share her findings in Nelson Mandela Bay next week.

A lack of available food has been cited as one of the contributing factors in the decline in penguin numbers, with an overall decrease off both the South African and Namibian coastlines of 50% in the past four years.

Dr Lorien Pichegru, who is doing a post-doctorate degree at the University of Cape Town, is busy with the second year of her four-year research project, part of which is focused on St Croix‘s dwindling penguin population.

Her research includes Dassen Island, off the coast of Cape Town.

“We‘re a group of about 10 scientists from different universities who are studying penguins on these islands,” she said.

As part of its International Museum Day celebrations – most of which take place tomorrow – Bayworld is hosting a free talk on Wednesday at 6pm by Pichegru on her work studying the vulnerable African penguin.

She said the government had barred sardine and purse-seine fisheries from fishing around St Croix and Dassen islands for a period of two years “so that the birds can have more food”.

“They (fisheries) are depriving penguins of anchovies and sardines which are their food.”

Pichegru said the birds‘ breeding season started in March and would end in July. “They will have to be more protected, because they might become extinct in 100 years‘ time.”

She cited lack of food as one of the factors contributing to the declining penguin numbers.

“I started my research last year, when St Croix Island was still open for fishing. But this year it‘s closed for fishing, so I want to see if the birds will react differently.”

Concerning the research, Pichegru said she placed GPS recorders on the birds‘ backs to record their latitude and longitude in order to establish where they found their food “as we also want to have their diet samples”.

Pichegru – who is working with Bay environmental activist Lloyd Edwards in the research – said they had tracked about 34 penguins on nearby Bird Island.

Edwards is the owner of Raggy Charters and founder of the Baywatch Marine Conservation Project which he started in 1992.

He described the decreasing penguin population as “the biggest challenge” he had come across in his 17 years in the marine life business.

“The St Croix penguin population was 60000 in 2004. During the last count earlier this year, there were about 20000. That‘s a 66% decrease,” he said. “The percentage is even worse than the national average of 50%.”

However, St Croix Island still remained “the world‘s largest breeding colony of penguins”.

Edwards said: “We need to make sure, through Lorien‘s research, that we don‘t lose too many penguins.”

He said Walmer‘s 6th Avenue BP service station was sponsoring the project with fuel “for this penguin breeding season”.

“We want to get another boat to be used for penguin research purposes only. We‘re looking for sponsors of products to build the boat, and a vehicle to launch it.”

Raggy Charters has donated an engine and GPS equipment for the boat but a hull is now required.

Edwards said Pichegru would explain some of her research findings at the penguin evening at Bayworld on Wednesday.

“I‘ll be exhibiting 80 of my marine photographs. People will be able to buy copies of them ... for the penguin research fund.”

Source:
http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=422916

This Week's Pencognito!

Please visit Jen and all the pengies HERE

Jackass Penguins are Flying About Their New Pool at Tanganyika Wildlife Park

Jackass Penguins are Flying About Their New Pool at Tanganyika Wildlife Park

By Matt Fouts

Goddard, KS - The Jackass Penguin Exhibit at Tanganyika Wildlife Park is the second penguin exhibit to open in the state of Kansas, and the first to display Jackass Penguins. The penguins have been residents at Tanganyika for well over a year, but they were confined to their indoor pool. “Their new outdoor pool is approximately 22,000 gallons and gives them plenty of room to “spread their wings” so to speak,” stated Matt Fouts, the Assistant Director.

The Jackass Penguins are also known as Black-footed or African Penguins. They are called Jackass Penguins because their vocalization sounds like a mule. The Jackass penguins come from Southern Africa and are cousins to the Humboldt penguins from South America. They are warm-weather penguins, which are much more common than arctic penguins. The Jackass penguins are listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable due to egg poaching and habitat disruption. In the early 1900’s their population was estimated to be around 1.5 million, but only 10% of them remain today.

The Jackass Penguin exhibit is the first new exhibit to open at Tanganyika Wildlife Park for the 2009 season. The Wildlife Park still has plans to open three more exhibits in 2009 including: Red Pandas, Clouded Leopards, and Snow Leopards. In addition, the camel ride will open by Memorial Day weekend and we will be adding a one or two more interactive exhibits.

Tanganyika Wildlife Park is an organization dedicated to the conservation of exotic and endangered species. The Park has been operating since 1986 and first opened to the public August 2nd, 2008. Tanganyika Wildlife Park is west of 183rd St on Maple. The Wildlife Park’s hours are 9:00-5:00 Daily. For more information on the Park, please visit www.twpark.com.

Tanganyika Wildlife Park
1037 S 183rd St W
Goddard, KS 67052
www.twpark.com

To view Tanganyika Wildlife Park's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-775-Tanganyika_Wildlife_Park

Source:

http://www.zandavisitor.com/newsarticle-1450-Jackass_Penguins_are_Flying_About_Their_New_Pool_at_Tanganyika_Wildlife_Park

'Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins' comes to St. Louis Science Center

'Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins' comes to St. Louis Science Center

05/15/2009

Scientist Franco Mariotti has visited the North Pole twice and spent two years researching the Arctic and Antarctic for the touring exhibit "Ends of the Earth." So you can take his word about polar bears — or trust those Coca-Cola ads. "Penguins and polar bears do not live together," said Mariotti of Ontario's Science North museum."

— Why create this exhibit? When you combine great geography with great wildlife and great explorations and great science, people are going to be interested.

— The exhibit invites visitors to wear a penguin suit and study penguin feathers. What makes them so darn adorable? They seem so laid back. Most wildlife scurries away when you approach, but penguins accept you. They'll look you up and down and assess you.

— So why do penguins wear tuxedos? If you are a predator swimming underneath the penguin, you look up and see the light. The white belly blends in. And if you're looking down into the water, all there is the dark.


Saturday through Sept. 7 — St. Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Avenue — $8, $6 for children — slsc.org

By Diane Toroian Keaggy @
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/0/1721A28CEC3746BB862575B5006680A7?OpenDocument

Pepsi Penguins

Image of the Day

me and my penguin
Originally uploaded by Danita Art

A little penguin artwork

Latest attack prompts penguin plan

Latest attack prompts penguin plan
14/05/2009 3:39:00 PM

The second major attack on the Kingscote penguin colony in six months has prompted authorities to look at an ongoing education program for island students.

Two weeks ago a group of boys aged 10 to 12 jumped barriers at the colony on the Saturday night and lifted the lids off nests, snatched eggs and smashed all but one of the current batch.

Colony worker Toni Soutar said the boys had wasted two-and-a-half months of nesting for the penguins. Chicks had been expected this month.

“We want something positive to come from this. We are working with the school and parks staff to develop an education program and perhaps a program whereby a class at the school adopts the colony for a period of time and they get to do some work there, learn more about the penguins and feel a sense of ownership,” Ms Soutar said.

She said the attacks were devastating for her personally because she knew the birds individually.

This recent attack followed a more brutal assault in November last year when an older group of local youths bludgeoned several birds to death and destroyed nesting boxes, leaving a heart-breaking trail of destruction.

Many nesting pairs still had not returned to the site and only two chicks in the area survived that attack. No charges had been laid yet.

Ms Soutar said the Kingscote colony had become even more important to the State because of the decimation of populations at Penneshaw and Granite Island by fur seals.

Meanwhile, the boys involved in the most recent attack are involved in a program to repair and install burrows and to learn about the penguins and their habitat and lifecycle.

“If we can get this education program going it will have created something positive out of this negative episode. It will be good for all the kids involved and create some peer pressure about looking after the colony,” Ms Soutar said.

Source:
Shauna Black @
http://kangarooisland.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/latest-attack-prompts-penguin-plan/1513443.aspx

A Penguin Bike?

Dryvit Unveils OCC Penguin Cycle

The Dryvit booth was the place to be at the opening of the 2008 AIA Convention, May 15, Boston, when a large crowd gathered to the Teutul boys of Orange County Choppers unveil their Penguin cycle creation. The bike, created primarily for promotional purposes, was designed with the company’s penguin logo as its inspiration. Penguins are incorporated in wheel spokes and the gas tank is penguin shaped. The bike drew much oggling throughout the show. The American Chopper show that will feature the Dryvit Penguin cycle will air on June 12. For more about the show, check out the American Chopper website.—Gary L. Parr

Source:
http://www.cbpmagazine.com/blog/?p=7

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