Happy New Year 2022 !
We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and that you are enjoying our New Zealand summer - and staying safe from the storm that's hitting the West Coast at the moment.
Our West Coast penguins should have nested successfully with chicks fledged and moulting complete or almost complete. It is time for most of the blue penguins to go to sea for a few months. Where they go and what they do and why, we still need to find out. Do they follow food? Their colony neighbours? Do they head to a certain location? The Tawaki Project have been following Fiordland crested penguin between breeding seasons and they go on incredible journeys - find out more here.
If you have had any interesting penguin encounters on the West Coast or anywhere, this summer, we would love to hear about them and perhaps see and share photos.
As usual, we have all been busy in the Trust, monitoring, raising awareness, working with schools, learning new skills ourselves and championing the cause for penguins.
Read on for our news plus some other interesting articles from different organisations and stories from around the globe too.
Considering some penguins are still moulting, it is an important time to give our usual reminder to dog owners, to please take care on our beaches and coastal areas. (Read our little note about the penguin moult below.) Keep dogs under control at the beach, and on a lead when in or passing through the coastal vegetation or on the beach after dark. Please encourage other dog owners to do the same. When moulting, penguins cannot go to sea until they have grown back all their feathers, which takes approximately two weeks. During this period, the birds lose half their bodyweight and become very stressed, so it is a very crucial time for them not to be disturbed by humans and dogs.
We were very saddened to see what appeared to be a juvenile blue penguin killed by a dog in the Charleston area recently. Thank you to those that have passed on the facebook post and thank you for your care.
Also just a quick reminder that if you do see an injured penguin or any wildlife that seems to be struggling, please call DOC for assistance on the hotline, 0800 DOCHOT (362 468) and do all you can to ensure it is safe from dogs. If you see or hear about a dead penguin, please let us know using our simple reporting form, ideally with a photograph, so that we can add it to our database - which informs conservation actions.
Thank you for your interest and support, and please feel free to forward this newsletter or any stories to a friend or someone you meet when out and about on the beaches and talking penguins.
We wish you all a healthy, happy 2022!
Lucy Waller
Education and Awareness Ranger