Hello

We and local schools have been very busy over the past couple of months, making up for missing out on so much during lockdown. I have been working with a number of West Coast schools over the past couple of months, primary schools as well as senior biology students as they learn about penguins and how to protect them, which comes to life particularly at this time of year for kids and everyone in fact, as eggs will be hatching and chicks are being raised! 

Several of the primary schools enjoyed a very exciting visit from Alastair Judkins and Mena the penguin detection dog and it was perfect timing, celebrating the penguin breeding season.  The dynamic duo also surveyed several sections of beach between Hokitika and Carters Beach and had to put up with some atrocious spring weather - find out more about their visit below.

Rangers are all busy with monitoring and burrow scoping, setting up and maintaining cameras, trapping and tracking, and making sure we keep learning more about West Coast penguins so that we can help protect them.

Having supported us with a grant from their staff foundation last year, we also had ANZ following us and filming to make a short film about all the work we do and we'll share that with you in future newsletter.  NZ Geographic took an interest in our education programme too, taking photos with Paroa School.

Make sure you put the 17th – 22nd October in your diary for our Great Annual Penguin Count this year!  We have a very serious problem with erosion on some beaches as you have probably seen.  If you happen to be at the beach counting tracks and see there is no access for the penguins to get up, please have a go at cutting or stamping a bit of a ramp for an easier way up for our penguins. Thank you!

We are delighted to see a new children's book about West Coast blue penguins published in recent days by Jeanette Goode - find out more and where to get your copy below. 

It has been more tricky to walk dogs on the beach recently due to the erosion and high seas and we have noticed more dogs in the dunes and penguin habitat at the back of the beach.  Please do be aware and let others know that this is penguin breeding season and there will be vulnerable chicks and their parents dashing to and fro every night trying to raise them.  Penguins shouldn't be out in the open, but could be if they are sick or injured; a dog's instinct could lead them to a penguin or a burrow so they need to be under control and on a lead in the dune area. 

Many thanks for all your support
We look forward to seeing you out on the beaches later this month and hearing about your penguin counts!

Lucy

Education and Awareness Ranger

Penguin education takes on new meaning

Blue penguins, only about as tall as a 30cm ruler that every student will have in their tool kit, have been killed on coast roads since the roads were built through their nesting areas but some are now helping biology students in their studies.

If penguins have been found dead but in good condition, they have often been stored in a DOC freezer for later study, and last month, John Paul II and Westland High School senior biology students were privileged to have dissection classes to study this precious and local native wildlife.  West Coast Vets Marjan Sprock and Lynda Murphy along with Trust Education Ranger, Lucy Waller, and Dan Steggles, Head of Science at JPII and Sharon McLeod at WHS guided the students through the process in which they observed the anatomy and adaptations of penguins to their environment, as well as establishing damage to vital organs, amounts of fat and muscle and any stomach contents. 

Lucy noted: "In one case, they found an egg, a very sad example of the loss of a healthy breeding penguin clearly illustrating not only the loss of one but of future generations of penguins.  In most cases the penguins were emaciated - a surprising finding and something warranting further investigation."

"In a follow up session, John Paul II students looked for and then analysed tiny nasal mites, smaller than a pin head, to contribute to an international penguin science project, adding another useful and fascinating layer of learning."

The students commented - "Having to do it hands on, it was a great learning experience", "It was incredibly fun and interesting. Would do it again if I had the chance."

Read more here.

Photo: West Coast Vets vet Marjan Sprock leads a penguin dissection class with John Paul II students followed up with close inspection of nasal mites.  Photos by Siobhan Ellis 

Mena the penguin detection dog visits the West Coast

Mena, the only penguin detection conservation dog in the South Island, along with handler Alastair Judkins, joined the West Coast Penguin Trust for two weeks to survey penguin nest sites and visit schools.

Education Ranger, Lucy, arranged a busy schedule for the pair, introducing them to children at Hokitika, Kumara, Paroa, Grey Main, Barrytown, Westport South and Granity schools.  The kids and staff absolutely loved the opportunity to meet Mena, see her at work and also enjoy a cuddle; Mena loved it too.

The Trust's main reason for bringing Alastair and Mena to the Coast was to survey penguin nest sites close to Hokitika, beside the penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki, and along various sections of Coast between Tauranga Bay and Carters Beach.

Find out more and have a look at some photos here.

Photo: Alastair Judkins makes notes while Mena waits to find the next penguin nest

New children's picture book: A Little Blue, by Jeanette Goode

Fourteen years in the making, A Little Blue, has just been launched!

A Little Blue is a self published children's picture book written and beautifully illustrated by Coaster Jeanette Goode. This delightful new book is the first in a series that feature the threatened species of Aotearoa New Zealand.  It will appeal to children of all ages, is written for 7 to 12 year olds and is particularly helpful for reluctant readers as Jeanette has drawn pictures to tell a slightly different and deeper story. It is a tale of love and the arresting power of nature and Jeanette is very kindly making a donation to the West Coast Penguin Trust for every copy sold!

Jeannette was joined by excited families over the past week at her book launches in Westport, Hokitika and Greymouth.

Reviewer and author Melinda Szymanik has reviewed the new book:

"There is a lot to like about this sophisticated picture book/junior fiction hybrid. The title, A Little Blue, is a multi-layered clue to what we will find inside. Epistolary in form, the story follows Simmy's time staying with her Dad at his beach side house on the West Coast. ... I was really charmed by this book."

You should be able to find it at a book shop near you or you can buy direct from Jeanette.

Read more, including the full review and see more pictures including illustrations, here and there's more on Jeanette's A Little Blue facebook page.

Photo: Jeanette signs copies of 'A Little Blue' at the Westport book launch

The great annual West Coast blue penguin count - it's nearly here!

Just a reminder - it's that time of year again, and this time, why not get out to your local beach and find out if there are any penguins leaving tracks!  

For most of us, having an early morning walk on the beach is a rarity, but making the effort pays off - it's refreshing, it sets you up for a great day and it helps you sleep at night!  

And if you look out for penguin tracks, adding a bit of a penguin detective role to your walk connects you to your beach, to nature, to wildlife and feels great!  For any age, if you can get out to a beach, make the effort, you won't regret it!

We've suggested that you use an app to record where you find penguin tracks, and that makes it easier for us to analyse the results, but if you'd like to drop us an email noting where and when you walked your beach, how far you covered and how many tracks you found, that would be wonderful.  Even better, send us a photo of you doing the count!

Find out all you need to know here.

From Vancouver with love

Kia Ora Vancouver is an ex pat group of kiwis keen to help fellow kiwis feel at home there, keep informed and have fun … and fundraise for causes like penguin conservation back home!

On Saturday February 8th, 2020 Kia Ora Vancouver Community Society hosted their tenth annual Waitangi Day Celebration and Fundraiser at The Blarney Stone bar in downtown Vancouver, Canada, the second time they have raised funds for West Coast penguins.

One of the Kia Ora Vancouver Directors, Robyn Tucker-Peck explains:

"This event continues to attract hundreds of New Zealand expats and honorary New Zealanders in Greater Vancouver to celebrate this significant day in New Zealand's history and to raise funds for a worthy cause."

This year, they again raised a whopping $1500 through the sale of Steinlager stubbies and this year, the Trust has put that straight to bringing Mena, the famous penguin detection dog, over to the Coast.  That has meant learning more about our blue penguin colonies to help with conservation action, and giving hundreds of school children an appreciation for conservation dogs, an understanding of what they do for conservation projects and a new perspective on penguins.

Thank you so much Kia Ora Vancouver!  

Read more about them and their Waitangi Day event here. 

Trust's Annual Report shares highlights

Every year, the Trust compiles its achievements, hopes and thanks into an Annual Report from the Chair.  This year, Trust Chair, Reuben Lane, looked back on his first year in the role.

There have been many highlights, many already brought to you through this newsletter, and you can read more and find the report here.

Photo: Some of the WCPT team in September 2019 at the International Penguin Conference in Dunedin

Birds NZ Research Fund supports Trust projects

We were thrilled to have applications for funding from the Birds New Zealand Research Fund (BNZRF) approved this year.  The fund mainly supports logistic costs and equipment and we sought support for our blue or little penguin foraging study based in Charleston, and our study of tawaki or Fiordland crested penguins in South Westland in order to better understand the threat posed by stoats and the best methods to manage that threat.

Find out more and read summaries of the two projects here. 

Photo: Catherine Stewart adjusts the trail cameras in the Gorge River tawaki colony

Just to make you smile on a Friday ...

Coming soon:

• An update on the 2020 penguin breeding season
• Updates on what the Trust team have been up to
• GPS foraging study, following blue penguins out to sea at Charleston
• The ANZ West Coast Penguin Trust mini film
• More education stories
• And much more.....

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West Coast Penguin Trust

info@bluepenguin.org.nz  |  www.westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz

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