Just about an hour's drive from Cape Town, in the seaside community of Simon's Town, you will find a totally amazing place - Boulder's Beach Penguin Colony! It is an incredibly beautiful spot. The thousands of penguins inhabiting the colony live and nest amongst giant granite boulders scattered along a white sandy beach.
 |
| Boulder's Beach |
The colony started off with only 2 pairs in 1982, but has grown to about 3000 pairs today. This is good news for the African Penguin population, which has been reduced by an estimated 90% since the beginning of the 20th Century. A 90% reduction, that's horrible. African Penguins are currently listed as Endangered by the IUCN.
 |
| I'm Endangered, save me! |
That is why the work of SANCCOB is so important, and why I am volunteering to help every sick and injured penguin return to the wild. SANCCOB is the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (I'm not sure where the N in SANCCOB fits in - I think it's from the Afrikaans name possibly?) and they work mainly on African Penguins, but also other seabirds, like the Gannet from my last post.
It was so encouraging to visit Boulder's Beach and see the healthy penguins doing well in the wild! There were so many swimmers cruising the waves, and nesters with chicks in their burrows. We even saw a bird that had been released from our center last week, happy and healthy, hanging out with his new friends!
Here are some penguin pics, enjoy!
 |
| The penguins were nesting in the shrubs |
 |
| Hello chick! |
 |
| Some of the penguins were nesting in the forested area |
 |
| Quite a few chicks were hanging out at the beach too |
 |
| This chick is losing his down and becoming a "little blue" as we call them because their juvenile feathers have a bluish tinge. |
 |
| The beautiful beach |
 |
| Parent and chick getting snuggly |
 |
| Time for a swim |
 |
| Enough of that! |
 |
| I want one of those houses! |
No comments:
Post a Comment