How to learn more about penguins

Did you know that there were 17 species of penguins?

You would if you had matriculated at Antarctica University.

There’s a university in Antarctica?

Well, not exactly. It’s a virtual university. And it’s hosted by one of the leading Antarctic research organizations: Oceanities.

Oceanities is an impressive organization — balancing public education (like Penguins 101) with hands-on research.

Ever year, the Oceanities team monitors penguin colonies up and down the Antarctic peninsula, counting penguins by hand, in an effort to understand which colonies are thriving and which are not.

And from what I can tell from their research on Petermann Island, the Adélies are having the hardest time. In just five years, the number of Adélie nests have decreased from 553 to 390. And fewer nests generally means fewer chicks. Gentoos, on the other hand, seem to be doing pretty well, actually increasing their number of nests.

To learn more, visit www.oceanites.org.

Is ecotourism an oxymoron?

I came across a short piece on the Magellanic penguins of Punta Tombo in the Salem-News today.

The writer Gail Parker hits on a theme that is sure to sharpen in the year ahead, and one that I often wrestle with.

Ecotourism.

She asks if ecotourism is an oxymoron.

According to my fictional researcher based at Punta Tombo (story download), it certainly is. Tourists absolutely and inadvertently cause the deaths of penguins. Yet this must be weighed against the trauma that would be inflicted upon them if tourists did not travel thousands of miles to see them.

More than two decades ago, the Japanese wanted to harvest the penguins, using their skin for women’s gloves. Local researchers shed light on these plans and, thank goodness, they didn’t come to fruition.

Now, with a hundred thousand annual visitors, it’s safe to say that the penguin colony is protected.

But we must not love them to death. There was a time there were more penguins than people along these shores. Not anymore.

My big concern is not so much the tourists but the ships off the coast, the one that catch these penguins in their fishing nets, the ones that steal the food, forcing penguins to venture further and further from their nests. This, I believe, is the far greater threat.

Birds of Seattle

Granted, this is a brief list of birds, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

I will expand it. I’m currently searching for the elusive Bufflehead. Every time I see one I’m without camera.

Here’s what I’ve photographed so far, all along Elliott Bay.

A goldeneye. There are two different types; I’m not sure which one this is.

A seagull, with meal in beak:

Bald eagle flying in front of the Seattle PI building

Oh, and let’s not forget the Calder Eagle…

When parents don’t return in time

If you don’t want to feel depressed, stop reading now.

Because this is a post about a depressing story — and one that is likely to become more common as we deplete the oceans of  life.

This story is about the penguins of Phillip Island, an island south of Melbourne. It’s a popular tourist destination for the penguin parade — in which Little Penguins return to at dusk their nests.

Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Experts had forecast a record number of chicks this year, but things took a turn for the worse when the parents were unable to return in time to keep them fed. Says the article, half of a chicks have starved to death. Their parents, chasing an elusive fish population, were away for far too long.

Penguins have only a few days to go out and catch the food and return to their nests. It’s a fragile ritual, so easily disrupted. And although penguins can go fast and far, sometimes it isn’t far enough.

Of course, there is no proof that the fishing industry is to blame. There is never any proof. Perhaps this was a simple matter of fish migration. Or ocean temperatures changing — also a threat to penguins.

But all that really matters is that the parents didn’t return in time. As the naturalist said, “It’s a bit like working in a hospital, you see it over and over again and yeah, you do get upset.”

So do I.

Source: Penguins News Today

Penguins that like people

Penguins may look cute and cuddly but you wouldn’t want to get too close to one. They bite and they bite hard.

Which is probably why we’re so fascinated by those select penguin who choose not to bite humans.

There is a penguin, named Sandy, in a zoo in German that has developed quite an interesting relationship with a zoo keeper. As shown below, she has more or less adopted him.

And there is Oscar:

He lives at the Staffordshire Zoo and he has become a crowd favorite because he too has taken a liking to people.

You could argue that captive penguins are naturally acclimated to humans — and, frankly, have no choice but to suffer them.

Which is why this next penguin is so very interesting.

His name is Turbo. He is a member of a Magellanic penguin colony in Punta Tombo, Argentina.

He is not a caged penguin — so he is free to completely ignore humans altogether. And yet he has spent much of his life hanging out with them. Barging into their rooms. Tagging along on their hikes.

He inspired my short story.

He also now has own Facebook page. And more than 200 friends!

Which means that we can now follow him.

Penguins may waddle over ground but they fly through the water

Penguins swimming off the coast of Punta Tombo

It is all too easy to assume that penguins are clumsy animals.

After all, we typically encounter them on land, where they spend roughly half their lives. And boy are they awkward on land. But they are not built for setting land speed records. They are built for the sea. For evading other creatures that swim, such as leopard seals.

Scientists will tell you that they can cover 80 miles in a day.

And this isn’t just a one-time trip either. This is a regular commute — like going to work. They swim 80 miles in search of food, for themselves and their chicks. Which is why ocean trawlers, with nets that stretch for miles, are so dangerous to the future of penguins, as well as so many other wildlife. The nets take all the food, as well as anything else in their path. Penguins go where the trawlers go and vice versa. Sometimes penguins don’t make it back from their commute.

For more information on penguins, visit the Penguin Sentinels web site and subscribe to their newsletter.

Naturing in Seattle

In Seattle, you don’t have to walk far to catch glimpses of nature going about its business.

But today I was fortunate enough to catch an eagle and seal going about their business — and catch them on camera.

I had gone for a walk along the Sound, or the Salish Sea, with the goal of taking pictures of a grain ship leaving port. We have a view of a grain terminal from our apartment and I’m kinda obsessed with watching the ships come and go. The process requires two tugboats and I’ve never actually watched the process up close.

As I was making my way along the trail I heard commotion above. Seagulls and crows flapping around and making lots of noise. Living here over the past year, I’ve figured out that when both seagulls and crows get riled up about something a raptor isn’t far away. Sure enough, I spotted a bald eagle in front of the Seattle PI globe.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen an eagle and not had my camera let alone zoom lens ready. But I was ready this time. Eventually he returned and perched over some food he had caught. You can see the crows hovering nearby. They were not in a good mood.

Eventually the eagle got tired of the harassment and moved on…

And I did the same. I kept in an on the water because ever so often I see a seal peaking out. Sure enough, one was only about twenty feet away from shore.

And now here are pictures of the ship leaving town. First the ropes fell, then the tugboats pushed the ship away from the pier.

And then a new moved into place.

Just another day in Elliott Bay.

The King on Bing

I was happy to see a very young King Penguin on Bing this morning.

This photo was taken on South Georgia Island by Tony Ernst. I hope to visit this island some day, as it’s home to one of the largest King Penguin colonies on the planet. Kings aren’t the largest penguins on this planet — Emperors have that honor — but they certainly look plenty big in pictures.

South Georgia also happens to be where Ernest Shackleton died and is buried.

And the island is home to the remnants of a massive whale processing company — hopefully something that will remain a relic.

Discovering the Kimberly Coast

We are only just discovering our oceans. For most of human history we focused on land. The water was useful to finding new land areas, for mapping land areas, and so on.

But now we are turning our eyes on the oceans, and there is so little we know.

Take the Kimberly Coast, an enormous stretch of land on the northwest corner of Australia. There could be thousands of whales using this stretch of water and naturalists are scrambling to learn more.

This article says these parts are “crucial calving, mating, feeding and resting habitat for humpback whales, and important for a range of other species such as dugong, sea turtles, and Australia’s unique snubfin dolphin,”

Sea Shepherd adds to its fleet

The Sea Shepherd crew is gearing up for another run at the Japanese. I really wish the Japanese government would come it its senses and stop subsidizing this annual slaughter.

Until then, Paul Watson keeps coming up with news and creative ways of getting in the way of business as usual.

Say hello to the Ady Gil — a 50-knot vessel that should be able to do laps around the Japanese:

Here’s the full article.

If you’re wondering why I’m writing about whaling in a blog that is ostensibly about penguins, it’s because the short story I wrote, The Tourist Trail, is also about whaling, inspired in large part by the Sea Shepherd Society in general and Paul Watson in particular. I’ve since expanded the story into a novel that takes place in the Southern Ocean as the crew does battle with the Japanese. It was a novel that I didn’t want to write because I had hoped that the Japanese would have given up by now. Boy was I wrong.