There's a glimmer of good news for South African blackfooted penguins this week. These popular birds -- the same species visitors can see in our Splash Zone exhibit or via our Penguin Cam-- have declined dramatically in the wild, probably because overfishing has reduced their supply and oil spills that have fouled the waters where they swim. A population of three million birds in the 1930s is down to around 120,000 penguins today.
Now park rangers on one of the penguins' favorite nesting beaches are installing nesting boxes so penguin pairs will have a safe place to lay their eggs and rear their young. They've placed 200 boxes thus far, thanks in part to a donation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and its blackfooted penguin Species Survival Plan-- a program in which the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a partner.
An Associated Press report (complete with a great slide show) tells the tale of the rangers' effort at the popular Boulders Beach, where tourists vastly outnumber penguins and the two groups seem to be coexisting well.
Still, the penguins haven't had enough safe places to nest, which means that gulls and other predatory birds can make off with the chicks, or that the eggs are abandoned unprotected on the sand when the parent birds take to the water to cool off from soaring temperatures on land.
It's one piece of the puzzle, with more to come. There's still the issue of overfishing of the sardines and pilchards that penguins need to survive and people catch for food or fish meal. (The threat was spelled out neatly in the animated film Happy Feet.) And oil spills, by tankers or illegal dumping, remains a danger. Conservation organizations in South Africa are addressing those issues, and you can all do your part to combat overfishing by using our Seafood Watch pocket guides.
For the moment, thought, let's celebrate the good work that's giving the penguins a place to nest and rear their chicks. There's hope for a new generation of penguins, and that's a start.
Comments