Every year on April 25th, coinciding with the annual migration of Adélie penguins living in Antarctica, we celebrate World Penguin Day!

Right around this time Adelie penguins migrate an average of about 8,100 miles during the year as they follow the sun from their breeding colonies to winter foraging grounds (remember they’re in the Southern hemisphere) and back again. Here at the Academy we display a different species of penguin, the African penguin, which doesn’t migrate but we love taking this opportunity to not only express our admiration for these lovable birds but also to consider our responsibility towards them. As of today eleven of the world’s eighteen penguin species are considered to be either vulnerable or endangered. This means that, if no measures are taken to protect them, there is a real risk that population levels for these species will not be sustainable and extinction will follow. This looms very large on our minds here because one unfortunate member of the endangered species list is the African penguin.

Penguins are vulnerable to overfishing of their food sources, climate change, pollution (especially oil spills), introduced predators, and human encroachment on  their breeding grounds. It is only by protecting their environment that we can ensure the future of penguins, which are now understood to be an important indicator of the health of our planet.  We need to recognize that the fundamental changes affecting penguins will one day, without a doubt, affect our own lives.

So let’s all take a moment on Wednesday to appreciate how fascinating this family of flightless birds is and why we need to preserve their natural environment. Some ideas? Come visit our colony here at the Academy and learn something new about penguin biology or behavior. Wear black and white or even a tuxedo in honor of countershading–dark backs and white undersides. Watch a movie or read a book about penguins. Order some wine from Penguin Bay Winery. Even better make a donation to an organization like SANCCOB which does a tremendous amount of work to conserve and protect wild African penguins.

Most importantly have a great World Penguin Day and do something, anything, penguinish!

Sinclair, the newest member of the Academy’s African penguin colony, was introduced to our exhibit for the first time this past Monday and is the first new bird to be brought into the renovated building. She arrived in San Francisco on November 17th in great condition from Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma. Below is a picture of her being picked up from the cargo area of San Francisco Airport:

Sinclair was hatched at New England Aquarium on March 28th, 1991. We received Sinclair as part of our commitment to cooperatively manage this endangered species with other zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).  African penguins are managed under what’s referred to as a Green-level Species Survival Plan (SSP). This means that the population of the species in captivity is considered sustainable for the long-term which, in more detail, means that we can maintain 90% genetic diversity within the group for at least 100 years. Breeding is prioritized to maintain or increase gene diversity largely through considerations of mean kinship, avoidance of inbreeding, and the degree of uncertainty within an individual’s pedigree.

As a general rule any new animals (whether fish or snakes or penguins, etc…) brought into the Academy are subject to a 30 day quarantine period where they are isolated from the rest of the collection to avoid transmission of any pathogens they might be carrying. Sinclair did wonderfully down in what has previously been referred to as “the Love-shack” with her recommended mate Agulhas (green-banded male). The two almost immediately started sharing their nest-box and were seen bowing and shaking their heads to each-other, all good signs for the formation of a strong pair bond.

So far Sinclair has been doing well on exhibit and is sporting a green wing-band on her left wing to match Agulhas. She has been holding her own with the rest of the colony yet is very mellow to work with. It was a lovely surprise to find that she has not been at all aggressive with the biologists who’ve been caring for her. We haven’t seen her in Agulhas’s nest yet but the two have been in close proximity and have even been braying together.

Hopefully the two will have a long and prolific future!

A few weeks ago team members Tessa and Brooke went on a tide-pooling trip to Pillar Point Harbor with the goal of increasing the invertebrate population of the Academy’s penguin pool. Pillar Point Harbor is a protected harbor along the San Mateo County California Coast at the very northern edge of Half Moon Bay. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!

We were also very successful and brought back 31 purple urchins Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and 50 ochre stars Pisaster ochraceus for the exhibit. Below is a picture of Tessa using a spoon to gently remove urchins:

Tide-pools are areas of the coastline that are covered and then uncovered with seawater each day by the high and low tides. Exploring tide-pools is a great way to see an incredible variety of organisms but it’s important to remember that these are very delicate ecosystems which can be easily damaged by human activity. When tide-pooling it’s imperative to look but not touch in order to avoid disturbing marine life. Please note that the Academy collects only under a Department of Fish and Game permit; we also have the expertise to safely remove, transport, house and care for any animals we gather.

Below is a picture of Tessa and Brooke with some of the ochre stars they collected:

Note the sea palms Postelsia palmaeformis growing on the rocks in the background. This is a type of kelp and is one of only a few types of algae that’s able to survive and remain erect out of water. We were thrilled to see this protected species thriving in its native habitat.

It was a long, exciting day that was well worth the effort. Aside from adding a dynamic visual element to the penguin display the invertebrates we gathered have a functional role. The sea stars will consume fish that are dropped by penguins during feeding time and the urchins are great algae eaters. In addition to what we collected, that same week we added 15 farm-raised red abalone Haliotis rufescens. The abalone need larger types of algae than what grows naturally in the exhibit so during weekly maintenance dives (usually performed on Thursday afternoons) check out the under-water camera and you may see each one of them being offered a piece of macroalgae by hand.

All in all, quite an exciting time on the invertebrate front!

Last Sunday Ocio and Safara (our red-banded couple) were re-introduced to the colony following a stay in the “love shack” to encourage pair bonding between them. This was the pair’s second stay off-exhibit together and, although they don’t seem to be spending time with each other of their own accord yet, progress was definitely made. During their first stay the two were almost completely uninterested in each other and never occupied their nest box at the same time. By the end of this most recent trip the two were almost constantly following each other around and were often seen in the nest box together. Hopefully over the next few weeks we’ll see them gravitate back towards each other but, if not, we’ll try again once things with the rest of the colony have settled down in terms of territories and mates. Ocio and Safara are young birds (5 and 4 years old, respectively) as are about half of the birds currently in our colony. African penguins reach sexual maturity in the wild at anywhere from 2-6 years of age so it’s not unexpected for our youngsters to take some additional time to form solid pair bonds.

Here are some close-ups of the two from this week:

In other news Pierre (blue-banded male) is 28 years old and is our oldest penguin. He’s also our most famous. If you haven’t read it yet there’s a great book called Pierre the Penguin which chronicles Pierre’s adventure wearing the first custom fit wet-suit for a penguin. A few years ago Pierre did not undergo his yearly molt as usual. As a result his feathers continued to wear down and, eventually, he became bald over the majority of his body. He was cold, shivering, wasn’t able to swim comfortably and was being picked on by the other penguins. His wetsuit improved the quality of his life tremendously and he was eventually able to re-grow his own feathers. He’s molted successfully since then and is currently about 2/3rds of the way finished with the process for this year.

He was not amenable to having his picture taken so here’s one of him trying to get some privacy in his nest:

This Saturday, October 8th, is African Penguin Awareness Day!

Our African monitor is aware!

Exciting new research by Daniel Ksepka and Daniel Thomas shows that at least three species of penguins have independently colonized Africa in the past. Today only one of those species, Spheniscus demersus, survives. Unfortunately, the future does not look very bright for them either making a day like this more important than ever. Population levels for this species in the wild have plummeted by over 90% in the past hundred years and they are now considered to be endangered, meaning that there is indeed a real risk they won’t be around for much longer in the wild at all.

Devoting a day to them should mean devoting ourselves to learning as much as we can about these charismatic critters and pledging to treat our planet as best we can. Penguins are generally considered to be a good sentinel species for the ocean environment. This means that their relative well-being is a good indicator of the health of the overall ecosystem; the challenges facing penguins are not really unique to penguins. They suffer from over-arching problems like over-fishing, climate change, habitat loss, introduced predators and, particularly for the African penguin, oil pollution.  To quote the eminent Lloyd Spencer Davis, “Saving penguins is not really about saving penguins; it is about saving every living thing–all of us.”

Come celebrate with the Academy’s own penguin colony and make your own African penguin craft in the Naturalist Center on October 7th and 8th:

There will also be a Specimen Spotlight on African penguins in front of the Project Lab at 11:30 am on Friday, October 7th.

Long live the African penguin!