This is Lüderitz. He is a juvenile African penguin with a purple and grey bracelet on his left wing. He was born at the New England Aquarium on September 4, 2009. His parents are Alfred and Treasure II. (Meet his mom in this previous post!)



Lüderitz is named after a coastal town in southwest Namibia. In the early 1900's this town was know for its guano harvesting but is now an important conservation area. It is home to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources which oversees the management of the seven penguin breeding islands off Namibia’s coast. (Many penguins at the Aquarium are named after these islands, learn more about these Aquarium birds here and here. There's even a penguin named Namibia! Meet her here.) In fact Halifax Island is just a stone's throw away from the town of Lüderitz.


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Lüderitz still has his juvenile feathers so if you try to find him in the exhibit he will have solid grey feathers on his head. (Learn how young penguins graduate to their grown-up feathers in this post.)

- Andrea