Edition 46: Spring 2009

Endemic to the coastlines of South Africa and Namibia, African penguins have earned a place in the heart of all who have encountered them. However, their population has not fared so well over the past few decades. 

While declining fish stocks from overfishing was thought to be the main reason for their problems, Wilfred Chivell, a passionate marine conservationist, discovered quite by accident that the lack of shelter for penguins was also to blame.

Before the extensive mining of guano for use as fertiliser in the 1800s and 1900s, penguins used to burrow into the ‘white gold’ to make safe havens for breeding. Today, with most of the coastline scraped bare of guano, penguins have had to breed in the open, leaving their eggs or chicks susceptible to heat stress and the preying appetites of various bird species. The threat of the latter has increased along with the rising population of kelp gulls who scavenge from fishing vessels and rubbish dumps on the mainland.

The realisation that shelter was critical to the African penguin’s survival led Chivel to design, build install artificial burrows on Dyer Island. They have quickly proved to be a success, with penguins racing into their new homes just as soon as the volunteers retreat. A total of 2000 burrows will eventually be placed on the island. The Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT), who build the shelters as part of their Faces of Need project, have now teamed up with South African National Parks (SANParks) to place the new homes in other areas of need along the coast. Forty-eight nests were recently installed on Bird Island, in Algoa Bay, 53km east of Port Elizabeth, and the first 50 of 100 were placed on Boulders Beach in Cape Town.

DICT is also in the middle of a research programme looking at the impact of a temporary fishing closure around one of the breeding colonies along the coast. Hopefully, with safe places for penguins to breed on shore, and richer seas for them to forage in, their long-term survival will be ensured.

For more information on the Faces of Need project run by Dyer Island Conservation Trust, visit www.dict.org.za.