Wayward NZ penguin homeward bound after unusual trip to Australia

AUSTRALIA - A New Zealand Fiordland penguin, nicknamed Columbus, is set for a long distance swim across the Tasman after his release from care at the Phillip Island Nature Parks Wildlife Shelter.

Columbus, one of only 6000 Fiordland penguins left in the wild, was 1800 kilometres off course when found by rangers at a Wilson’s Promontory beach. He was severely underweight and transported to the Phillip Island Nature Parks Wildlife Shelter for care.

Breeding bonanza on Phillip Island

AUSTRALIA – Forget the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Phillip Island is topping the stakes as the best location for raising families – at least if you’re a little penguin.

Researchers from Phillip Island Nature Parks have crunched the numbers and last summer’s breeding season for the world’s smallest penguin was the best since 1990, proving size doesn’t matter.

“An average 1.41 chicks were fledged per female, up from 1.29 in the previous breeding season.” said Dr Peter Dann, research manager at the parks.

Cellular activity helps chicks survive fasting in the cold

King penguin chick at
Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago
Credit: Pierre-Axel Monternier

SUBANTARCTIC – A new study shows that king penguin chicks survive harsh winters with almost no food by minimising the cost of energy production.

The study, presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting in Valencia on the 3 July, shows that mitochondria – the powerhouses of the cell – are more efficient in fasted king penguin chicks.

Penguin diving through the scales of time

Little penguin.
Photo credit: Phillip Island Nature Parks.

AUSTRALIA - An international research team has uncovered complex patterns in little penguin dives and revealed a sophisticated level of organised and adaptive behaviour.

The detailed patterns are like the repeated design on a head of broccoli, or the intricate geometry found in growing crystals, swirling galaxies and heart rates. The term “fractals” is used to describe these repeated patterns across varying spatial or temporal scales.

Conservationists call for wider set net ban to save yellow-eyed penguins

Yellow-eyed penguin.
Photo credit: Craig Mckenzie

NEW ZEALAND – Forest & Bird has called for an immediate extension to a ban on commercial and recreational set-netting around Otago Peninsula – a move that has angered the area’s commercial fishermen, the Otago Daily Times reported.

Karen Baird, Forest & Bird Seabird Advocate, said that because yellow-eyed penguins feed in the coastal waters that set nets are used in, they are a prime example of a species whose chances of survival would improve with better controls on set nets.

Why are penguins flightless? It’s evolutionary

Chinstrap penguin.
Photo credit: Kyle Elliott and Uli Kunz.

The mystery of the flightless tuxedoed bird has intrigued many of us, scientists included.

“Like many people,” said Professor John Speakman, “I have been fascinated by films of penguins walking across the Antarctic ice, and wondered why on earth they lost the ability to fly.”

Speakman, from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, is part of an international research team that collected data solving the puzzle of why penguins don’t take to the skies.

Luxury beachfront accommodation for penguins

Chris Hishon (front) and
Richard Heyward with their
purpose-built nest boxes for
the Fiordland penguin.
Credit: Real Journeys

NEW ZEALAND - The proactive and DIY attitude of two Real Journeys staff, combined with support from the Leslie Hutchins Conservation Foundation, has led to the creation of luxury beachfront accommodation for rare Fiordland penguins at Milford Sound’s Harrison Cove.

Chris Hishon, skipper of the overnight Milford Sound cruise boat, the Milford Mariner, and nature guide Richard Heyward have constructed purpose-built nest boxes for the penguins in a bid to provide them with a safe breeding haven, particularly for their susceptible chicks.