28/02/2025
Excellent information to help to protect these lil 🐧
Hello everyone!
An update on our Little Penguins colony at Godfreys Beach Penguin Viewing Platform:
Our little treasures have finished their breeding season and are now into their moulting season... what does this mean?
They have been busy gorging at sea to prepare for moulting and have been coming ashore in large numbers each night and finding a quiet hiding spot for the 4 weeks it takes for them to moult and replace all of their feathers.
So, we have a lot of Penguins looking dishevelled and quite miserable.
I call this season - Penguinopause!
This is a natural occurance for this time of year. We still have a few large chicks just starting to lose their fluffy coats in preparedness for sea, still being fed by their parents.
Once the remaining chicks have fledged moulting season will be in full swing. This means that the number of Penguins coming ashore will keep dropping as most will end up being land based while they progress with Penguinopause.
We have had 120-130 Penguins coming ashore each night and our numbers are now dropping as more stay in to moult - only 104 came home last night.
They are also arriving earlier each night as we head into Autumn. The last few nights they have started coming ashore at 9pm in 3 groups and have finished coming in by 10pm. If you are coming to watch them arrive please be at the main viewing platform by 8:30pm. Our Penguin Guide talk starts just as the Penguin friendly lights come on around the platform.
We have had quite a few visitors arriving after 10:15... even 11pm and they are leaving disappointed as the Penguins have finished coming ashore and are in their burrows for the night. Please remember that it only takes them about an hour to all come ashore each night.
Late visitors are also arriving with personal torches, red/white/flashing, for Penguin 'spotting'. Please note that this is a Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Conservation area. The main board at the entry states:
NO CAMERA FLASH
NO TORCH
All visitors to the colony are expected to respect this. Regardless of the torch light colour... they are prohibited. This Penguin colony is in a very dark corridor, not a built up city. They only come ashore at night for a reason.
When entering and leaving the carpark please use only lowbeam lights on your vehicle. The Penguins, Visitors, Locals and Guides all get distressed with the nightly barrage of highbeam/lightbars on vehicles entering and leaving the area.
Please be considerate to the nocturnal wildlife, visitors and locals who live in the area. If you wouldn't like it done to you, don't do it to others. It's not rocket science, it's common sense.
We want everyone who visits the colony to have an amazing Little Penguins experience but the continued conservation of our Penguin colony is our most important goal.
Guides are always on hand to answer any questions/concerns you make have. If we all work together we can preserve this special place and wildlife for future generations to enjoy.
Thank you for your understanding, please contact me for any questions/concerns that you may have.
🐧 Jen
Facilitator - Godfreys Beach Penguin Viewing Platform
President - Wildcare Friends of Stanley Penguins
Email: [email protected]
