Despite crowds of city dwellers and tourists, little penguins are thriving in the rather unlikely surroundings of suburban Melbourne.
“Look at that beautiful blue,” Zoe says. It is not until another volunteer discreetly shines a torch beam that I can see the tiny flippers are covered in sleek, steel-blue feathers. The unusual midnight coloration of the waterproof adult plumage is the reason these penguins – smallest of the world’s 18 species – are also known as little blue penguins.
Zoe says most of the summer chicks have fledged, so we are lucky to find these youngsters, which she estimates are five to six weeks old. Below us, a flotilla of a dozen birds arrives in the harbour. Swimming in alongside the yachts, the penguins emit soft yaps – “mep, mep”. Then the white-breasted birds rocket in to land and bounce up from one boulder to the next. Some disappear into the gnarled salt bushes, while others scuttle down the centre of the breakwater.
When they reach their nesting burrows, often just narrow clefts between boulders, the adults greet their mates with braying calls. Some raise their heads and beat their flippers up and down as they trumpet their exuberant greetings to one another.
Penguin paparazzi
Just the other side of a high steel fence, hundreds of tourists crowd along the breakwater, watching the nightly return of the adult birds. The rafts of penguins are greeted with delight, surprise and lots of camera and phone lenses. Fans come from around the globe to see this colony of about 1,400 little penguins, living in Melbourne’s once-bohemian seaside suburb of St Kilda.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2019-Ausgabe von BBC Wildlife.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2019-Ausgabe von BBC Wildlife.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Does cloning create identical copies?
EMBRYOS ARE MADE OF STEM CELLS that divide to give rise to different types of cells, everything from skin to brain cells. Scientists once thought that reproductive cloning creating a genetically identical copy of an individual organism - would be impossible without using stem cells and that the path leading to mature 'differentiated' cells was irreversible. But clawed frogs proved them wrong...
Tool-using animals
Our pick of 10 species that exhibit this special skill
Mission Blue
Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to marine conservation; she tells BBC Wildlife why protecting the ocean is essential to all life on earth
RESHARK
The world's first shark rewilding initiative has seen zebra sharks released in the waters of Indonesia's Raja Ampat archipelago
ON DECK
Ferries aren't just for transport, they're also perfect vessels for conservation
IT'S A COLOURFUL LIFE
Delve into the unique and complex biology of the clownfish, arguably the world's most famous fish
BAHAMAS BENEATH
A dive into the waters of this famous island nation with the creatures that call it home
"To save the reef, we need everybody involved"
Indigenous peoples may hold the key to protecting the Great Barrier Reef
SPINNING AROUND
Going around in circles proves fruitful for this filter-feeder
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
On balmy evenings, amorous beetles put on a spellbinding show in North American forests