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The Little Blue Penguin
This tiny penguin is found around the Southern coastline of Australia and Tasmania. Most people still refer to them as the ‘Fairy Penguin’, the name which they have been commonly called until recent times.
It is the world’s smallest penguin, standing at a little over 12inches in height. For comparison, the largest penguin is the ‘Emperor’ which is 4ft. 4inches high. The largest breeding ground for these tiny penguins is on Philip Island which is where our GB Willem lives. The Penguin Reserve is part of the Philip Island Nature Park which takes up approximately 10,000 acres which is around 20% of the whole island size.
The Penguin Parade attracts in excess of 500,000 visitors each year and many of these are from overseas. Our GB Duckwatcher visited there in mid December 2002 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of seeing these endearing little birds and also the other wildlife that Philip Island has to offer. The photo of the penguin chicks waiting at the entrance to the burrow was taken by DW in the daylight. No flashes are allowed so it is difficult to capture the adults as they come ashore at night.
The Research Team at the Reserve have tagged many penguins to study their habits and monitor their travels and are continually striving to secure their breeding habitat and protect them from predators. They have erected boardwalks and viewing area so that the sand dunes are preserved.
The little Fairy Penguin dives at a very fast speed to around the depth of 30 to 60ft although they have been monitored to a depth of 190ft. The longest dive to date took 112 seconds which meant that the little penguin had to use all the oxygen in his lungs and bloodstream as they are unable to breath under water. They usually swim between 30 and 40 miles a day although one little fellow made the lengthy journey of 200 miles in one day.
The breeding season is during June through August. They usually lay two eggs and the incubation time is 5 weeks. For the first 3 weeks of the little chick’s life they are constantly attended by one parent or the other. Then for the next 5 weeks they are left in the burrow by themselves whilst both parents go out to sea to collect food which is a diet of only fish whilst feeding the chicks. At other times they eat fish, squid and crustaceans. When the chicks are eight weeks of age they are ready to take their very first dive.
A typical day in the life of a penguin is leaving the burrow at 5a.m. and returning at dusk, around 7p.m. During this period of time they have been known to make up to 500 dives which is quite a busy and exhausting day for such a small bird. If food is not plentiful they will stay at sea for 1-3 days at a time but any longer than this puts the chicks at risk of dyeing. They are able to sleep at sea by lying on their backs and their colouring of very deep blue and white is an excellent camouflage. Their main predators at sea are sharks and birds of prey but they also are at risk of injury and death due to the carelessness of human beings. Plastic bags, fishing line and also oil spills are major problems. The biggest danger on land is the fox and feral cat.
I have personally been there at night during the breeding season and waited with anticipation as the first few little penguins reach the waters edge and then hundreds more arrive to make the slow procession up the slopes to where the chicks wait at the entrances to their burrows. They are the most adorable fluffy little bundles one could wish to see. The parents are so weighed down with fish that it is a real exhausting struggle for them to make this journey each evening.
Once a year they go into a two week moult and during this time they cannot feed at sea so they prepare themselves beforehand by fattening up to tide them over this period of time.
When they have penguins effected by oil spills, many more volunteers are needed to help with the arduous task of cleaning their feathers. If the birds preen themselves they can die of the toxins in the oil. When the birds are first brought in to the rehabilitation centre they are put into a little knitted pure wool sweater. Then begins the task of cleaning each bird with a special detergent which 
unfortunately strips it of all its natural oils. Once clean they are put into a brand new sweater and during their rehabilitation are still able to swim in a monitored salt water pool. During one of our major oil spills the little sweaters were knitted in the hundreds by people all over the world. Boxes upon boxes arrived as people’s hearts went out to the plight of the little Fairy Penguins.
Philip Island is also home to Koalas, Seals and many other Wading Birds who live on the tidal flats.
I would like to give thanks to the Island Penguin Reserve for allowing me to use their photographs. I am sure that anyone interested in wildlife would get great pleasure from exploring this site. http://www.penguins.org.au
Hurt not the earth,
neither the sea,
nor the trees.
