OTAGO PENINSULA, NEW ZEALAND — Around 6 p.m., a handsome guy named Donny walks out of the surf onto a secluded South Island beach. There are 10 people watching, and we can’t help it; we all say "Ahhh!" (Donny does that to people.)
Although he’s been known to stay out all night, Donny’s usual habit is to show up right here on this beach, same time, same place, day after day, and stroll back to his house.
"Stroll" is probably not the best description of Donny emerging from the ocean. "Waddle" is more like it.
Donny is a yellow-eyed penguin, and he’s been at sea, hunting for food, for the past 12 hours. Now, hidden in a camouflage blind, 10 humans watch as he heads for home by his well-worn path, across the beach, through the grass, over the dune.
For the past 15 minutes we’ve been hustling along behind our guide, through a series of shoulder-high trenches, camouflaged by leaf-covered netting. Our small group of ecotourists stays out of sight because yellow-eyed penguins, the rarest of the 18 known penguin species, are shy, almost reclusive.
We’re warned not to use flash cameras. If Donny sees us, or even suspects we’re around, he’ll waddle back into the ocean and stay there until he’s sure we’ve gone away, back to wherever we belong.
Topping the dune, Donny pauses, scratching thoughtfully with one flipper. His narrow shoulders droop, and so does his head, as though all that fishing has worn him out and he’d love a quiet evening to himself with a good book.
Instead, he’s met by his mate, Marie, and their chick, waiting for dinner. This cocoa-and-cream-coloured chick is almost as big as his dad. -covered with dense, down-like feathers, and he looks — like a plush toy. When he shows up at the blind, our group breathes another collective "Ahhh," and gets shushed, in case we scare him off.
Unlike his older and wiser parents, the little guy is curious, almost friendly, and as we huddle together in the blind, he waddles toward us to get a better look.
Donny and his life-mate Marie cared for this chick day and night until he was six weeks old. During that time, one parent stayed home while the other fished.
The chick has a voracious appetite, and waddles up to his dad, demanding his regurgitated dinner — whatever Dad has managed to swallow headfirst. While the chick’s favourite food is apparently squid, he’s up for sprat, red cod, blue cod. The kid isn’t fussy as long as it’s fish. When Donny turns away, signalling the end of dinner, the chick pursues him, sidling close to his dad, demanding more. Donny’s fishing expedition has taken him anywhere from five to 50 kilometres off shore, where he’s managed to elude sharks, fur seals, sea lions and whales, at least for today. Although he’s capable of diving 120 metres, he probably averaged about 50 metres in short, consecutive dives, surfacing every three to four minutes for a quick breath of air.
In this small, protected colony, Donny and his fellow penguins have every comfort a yellow-eyed penguin could want. Simple V-roofed nest boxes offer privacy, shade and shelter during breeding, plus protection from feral cats, stoats and other wildlife that consider penguins to be tasty morsels.
Like human families, penguin families also have their bad days. They complain, they yell at each other, (their Mauri name is Hoiho, or noise-shouter) and once in a while their lives take on a soap opera quality. Doug and Lynn split up when Lynn began spending her afternoons with a somewhat younger penguin while Doug was away fishing. Happily, Doug has found himself a new mate.
A not-so-happy ending came when Tarzan’s mate, Jane, went to work in the morning for a normal day of fishing, and just never came back.
Staff at this ecotourism venture, known as The Penguin Place, continually work at keeping the blinds and huts usable, the predator traps set, and the landscape planted with suitable bushes and shrubs.
"Injured penguins and orphaned chicks are taken into sick bay, where we have a very high success rate," the guide explains. In one recent case, a male penguin was bitten by a barracuda. Hospitalized, his wound was treated with manuka honey instead of antibiotics, and he made a full and fast recovery.
In one viewing hut, penguin statistics are pinned to the wall. They feature drawings of individual penguins, name and mate’s name, and illustrate their particular markings, which are quite distinctive and vary from one bird to another. The guide knows the history of every penguin.
An ongoing research program records breeding success at A Penguin Place. It also helps to assess the impact of tourism and tracks this rare and fascinating bird throughout its life.
Edmonton Journal
IF YOU GO
— — Air New Zealand flies to Auckland from Vancouver. Dunedin, on the South Island, is the easiest point of access for this award-winning penguin sanctuary. It can be reached by air, or by crossing the Cook Strait by ferry and driving to Dunedin, where bookings can be made at the local tourist bureau (iSite). The Otago Peninsula, on the South Island, offers several ecotourism companies that will introduce travellers to the yellow-eyed — in their natural habitat, as well as New Zealand fur seals and the amazing royal albatross.
— — The Penguin Place is a no-frills facility with an excellent program in which profits go to penguin -A visit includes travel to the site in a bumpy old bus, and some moderately energetic walking in the trenches.
— — For further information on viewing sites, contact the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust at yeptrust<P>gmail.com, or penguinplace. co. nz
