Category: Help a species: Penguins

1. World Penguin Day on 25 April 2020 - Watch this Q&A with a Penguin Watch Team!

   Posted on 11:00am Friday 24th Apr 2020

   The 25 April is World Penguin Day! The day coincides with the annual northern migration of Adelie penguins.   There are various different species of penguin.  OxfordSparks have their Penguin Watch Team who will be answering a Q&A.  Their researchers monitor penguin colonies across the Southern Ocean, working to disentangle the effects of various threats from things such as climate change and the krill fishing industry.

    

2. Please see this video from Gravitas - how nature is reclaiming its spaces due to the Coronavirus

   Posted on 2:00pm Friday 10th Apr 2020

   Sometimes you see something on the internet or on television that really hits you hard and makes a point extremely well. I saw this video, this afternoon, and I wanted to share it with you.  Please share it with everyone you can. The ultimate message is that we SHARE this planet.  It demonstrates how dominant the human race has become - and how selfish.   I am not going to tell you anymore about it - please just watch it for yourself.   Here it is: Thank you, Gravitas. Please vow to make a difference today.  Find out how to reduce your impact on the earth's resources here.

3. Great news for the Antarctic

   Posted on 9:00pm Wednesday 11th Jul 2018

   Greenpeace has announced some great news. The majority of the krill fishing industry has agreed to voluntarily stop fishing in sensitive Antarctic waters.  And it’s backing the campaign for ocean sanctuaries in the Antarctic. Penguins, whales and other Antarctic wildlife that feed on krill will be very relieved. And when the Antarctic Ocean Commission meet in October to decide on a massive Sanctuary, the influential krill industry won't be standing in the way. Greenpeace started campaigning on the krill industry back in April.   And the public piles on the pressure – Over 45,000 emails went to Holland & Barrett calling on them to ditch krill oil products fished from areas that need protection. Over 11,000 tweets and Facebook messages went to Boots, calling on them to stop sourcing krill oil products from sensitive Antarctic waters Stickered krill products with the message on Holland and Barrett and Boots shelves nationwide, Visited over 30 Boots shops with 'krill-o-meters' which asked people to choose between an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary and industrial krill fishing. More people contacted stores stocking dodgy krill products.  Superdrug, Morrisons, Nature’s Best and others listened to customer concerns. Greenpeace says, “This is a major step forward on the road to protecting the Antarctic. With many krill fishing companies now joining the 1.7 million people across the globe already calling for an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary, we are looking ahead with hope to the Antarctic Ocean Commission's meeting in October.” The British Retail Consortium is now calling on governments to act and protect the Antarctic this year. Do your bit and add your voice The UK Government is part of an Antarctic Ocean Commission which has pledged to protect the Antarctic, so you can urge it to stand up for ocean protection and support the creation of the world’s largest Antarctic ocean sanctuary.  Play a part and add your voice to get governments to act and protect the Antarctic. Sign the petition Greenpeace has got and add your voice.  Penguins, whales and marine life need you!

    

4. Drones counting breeding pairs of penguins in the Falkland Islands

   Posted on 8:55pm Thursday 27th Jul 2017

   © Falklands Conservation

   Last year, I adopted a King Penguin from a scheme run by Falklands Conservation.

   One of the great things about doing this is knowing that your penguin adoption is making a difference.  And today, I received my Penguin Adopter's Newsletter.  

   The newsletter mentioned that they are using drones to count breeding pairs of penguins.   Falklands Conservation think the drones have big potential for improving and enhancing their monitoring of penguins in the Falklands - the drones will give a permanent record of the colonies which can be referred to and re-analysed in the future.

   Back in November 2016, they tested drones over the penguin colonies to see how they reacted to a drone over them.  The penguins didn't react if the drone was launched at a afe distance away from them, and kept to a safe distance above them, so Falklands Conservation hope to develop guidelines for the safe use of drones with wildlife in the Falkland Islands.  It's important that the drones are used correctly and safely and that they don't disturb wildlife so these guidelines should be very useful for tourists and any other drone users.

   Visit Falklands Conservation here