Today I would like to introduce you to one of our southern rockhoppers. This is Staten; he has a gray bracelet on his left wing.


Staten

As you may have deduced from earlier Penguin Pal posts, all of our penguins have names that describe something about their species. A lot of the birds are named after islands where you can find penguins in the wild. Staten is also named after an island, but this island is not found in New York!


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Staten's namesake is an island is located in Argentina. It is eastern most island of the archipelago Tierra del Fuego.


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The island is called Isla de los Estados in Spanish and is Stateneiland in Dutch, after the Netherlands State-General or parliament. Staten Island was declared an Ecological, Historic, and Tourist Provincial Reserve, and is very isolated. The only permanent settlement is the Puerto Parry Naval Station, which is only manned by four marines at a time. In addition to southern rockhoppers, Staten Island is home to many species of sea birds and seals.

Come visit Staten at the Aquarium on a different island, rockhopper island in the Penguin Exhibit!

- Andrea