Two Penguin Paradises!

Here is a riddle:

I am little,
I am blue and white,
I have wings but I can’t fly through the air
and I have feathers…
Who am I?

A Little Penguin, that’s right!

We were lucky enough to see these beautiful creatures in two places! St. Kilda’s and Philip Island. They were so cute!

The first place was St. Kilda’s. We visited the penguins with Teta Tina and were very close to them. Some of them even came up onto the boardwalk!

Sunset…

Nice sunset!

Spot the penguin! (He is in the middle)

Hiding in the leaves!

On the boardwalk

Hiding behind a rock

Our first penguin we saw

Coming out of the water

Next was Philip Island where we saw the penguin parade. We rested on some bleachers next to the water and read a lot of facts about penguins while we waited…

And waited…. we were so excited when we saw tiny little penguins waddle out of the water in little groups. Since the tide was so high, many of them were washed back in!  We cheered them on to make sure they were encouraged to keep trying.  Eventually they all made it out and waddled to their burrows on land. We were able to follow the penguins on a raised boardwalk to their burrows. We were not allowed to take photos of the penguins because it scares them, but there is an app with photos of them that we are able to use.

On the same app, they provide many interesting facts about penguins, so I learned a lot about them.

All About Penguins

First of all, let’s introduce the little penguins. They have a clear third eyelid that helps them see underwater.  The penguins have a layer of feathers on the outsides that are waterproof, while the ones underneath keep them warm. They have blue backs that blend in with the water from above and white bellies that blend in with the sky from underwater. Their flippers are special wings that help them “fly” through the water and their feet are important for steering them.

Now that you know what a penguin looks like, here is some more information on their life cycle, habitat, predators and threats to their species.

From an Egg to the Sea

Interesting Facts

• Little penguins live for about 7 years
• The oldest little penguin lived for 26 years
• Little penguins make between 200 and 1300 dives a day
• They swim up to 50 kilometres a day
• A penguin chick weighs about 35 grams
• Little penguins can sleep at sea for up to 4 minutes
• A group of penguins in the water is called a raft
• A group of penguins on land is called a waddle

Little Penguin Burrows

Penguins follow the same path every time they return to their burrows so over time, they make a penguin path.

The penguin burrows are important for penguins because they can rest, moult and hide from predators safely.

Survival

There are many predators and other things that penguins have to worry about such as foxes and seals.

That not the only issue. Oil spills are very dangerous and can separate the penguins feathers which makes them less buoyant, less able to hunt and very cold.

There are special sweaters for the penguins who have been stained with oil that stop them from cleaning themselves and being poisoned.

Cars and garbage are two other things they have to worry about. If you visit any penguins in their natural habitat, make sure you check under your car before leaving.

As for the garbage, every year between 700,000 and 1,000,000 seabirds die from either eating or getting tangled in garbage.

Overfishing is another problem. There are not many fish left for the penguins to eat!

These penguins reminded me of the African penguins at the Toronto Zoo.

We are really lucky to see so many beautiful, cute, awesome Little Penguins.  On our trip, we have seen many animals roaming freely in their habitats, such as the ones on the game drives in Tanzania.  We can now add penguins to our list of international animals.

To learn more about penguins and see more photos,  download the free app below.