Earlier this summer we shared the happy news that several penguin chicks hatched here at the Aquarium. They made their fluffy media debut in June behind the scenes. We're excited to announce that these chicks have grown up nicely and are now on exhibit!

So, some introductions are in order. Here are the newest additions to the penguin colony.

Meet Fox

Fox is the newest little blue penguin.

Fox is a little blue penguin. She wears a red and green bracelet on her right wing. She has been on exhibit since the end of May and is doing great. She was born on March 31, 2015. Her parents are Montague and Kikiyu.

Fox at 17 days old

We gave her the name Fox because foxes are an introduced predator to little blues and can be detrimental to their populations. The population of little blues on Middle Island in Australia was over 600 birds in the year 2000, by 2005 it was down to only 10 and this was largely due to predation from foxes that made it to the island.  They have since solved the fox problem and the numbers are growing again.

Meet Albatross

Albatross before his/her debut on exhibit

Albatross is an African penguin who wears a pink and white bracelet on the left wing (pending DNA results, males wear bracelets on the left). He was born on May 11, 2015.  His parents are Seneca and Isis. (Meet some of Albatross's siblings!)

Albatross at 41 days old, see the white markings?

Albatross is named after Albatross Island in Namibia it was formally a large penguin breeding colony but has now become a large fur seal colony. When you look at the photos of Albatross you will notice he has very distinctive white spots on his beak and eyelids.  He was born like this, we are not sure if his beak will change and get darker as he gets older.  But it makes him very easy to spot on exhibit.

Meet Unombombiya

Unombombiya on exhibit

Meet Pilchard

Pilchard on exhibit

Pilchard the African penguin is wearing a red and blue bracelet on her right wing (pending DNA results, females wear the bracelet on the right). She was born on May 13, 2015. Her parents are also Mercury and Saldahna.

Unombombiya and Pilchard behind the scenes as chicks

Pilchard is a type of fish African penguins feed on. Recent declines in the pilchard population is one of the factors that have caused the African penguin population to decline making them endangered.

The African penguin chicks still sport their juvenile plumage. All have been on exhibit for a couple weeks now and are doing quite well. Come visit the new African and little blue penguins at Aquarium soon and get to know these newest members of our colony!

Dr. Jessica Kemper is an expert and advocate for the endangered African penguin. In this series of posts, she describes a unique resupply mission to help rescued African penguin chicks being hand-raised in Namibia.  Read Part 1, which ended with the rehabilitation team asking for help getting food for the young chicks in their care. In Part 2, Jessica springs into action! Keep reading for the exciting conclusion. And make plans to see penguins in person here at the Aquarium—we have more than 80 birds on exhibit!

Gino’s voice sounds far away through my headphones. “I’m going to first fly a loop past the island so we can check out the best way to do this. Don’t want to bludgeon any birds or the two small solar panels next to the house with our fish bricks, so we need to find an open space near the building to aim the parcels at.” Gino slows down the plane and we discuss our strategy.

The yellow plane: Kilo-Tango-Charlie, Gino’s canary-yellow Citabria. Photo: I. Weisel

Okay, here goes. Our first fly-past. Gino opens his window, I hand him the first parcel and hold my breath. NOW! Gino throws it out of the window and immediately pulls the plane into a steep left-hand bank, away from the island. “Can you see where it landed?” he shouts. “Spot-on Gino. It landed next to the balcony!!!” I can see Joan and Rian hopping up and down, giving us the thumbs-up.

Sitting behind Gino: not much space in the plane | Photo: I. Weisel

Four more fly-pasts later (one parcel went into the sea but the rest landed where they were supposed to) we are on our way home. The desert below us is glowing gold in the late afternoon light and we chat cheerfully all the way back to the Lüderitz airfield. It is dark by the time we have parked Gino’s plane in its shed and are back in town. The phone rings. “Please do not hang up…this call is from a radio…do not speak until after the tone…beeeeeep.” Static crackles over the line. “Jessica, it’s Joan, can you hear me? I just wanted to let you know that we currently have five very content chicks with full bellies sitting in our kitchen; thank you so much – over.” When I hang up the phone I smile. I certainly don’t want to do this again in a hurry, but it had all been worth it.

View from the lounge: the hardships of living a lonely island life are compensated by the company of thousands of birds outside the lounge window. Photo: Jessica Kemper

PS: these events took place on March 26, 2003. The vessel servicing the islands was repaired a few days after our rescue flight and delivered lots of frozen sardines to the island. The four penguin chicks and Katanga the Cape gannet chick all fledged successfully. Rian still lives on Mercury Island and monitors the seabird populations there.

Cape gannets: Mercury supports the northernmost of only six Cape gannet colonies in the world. Their numbers have dwindled drastically in Namibia and they are now considered “critically endangered” there. Photo: Jessica Kemper

Dr. Jessica Kemper is an expert and advocate for the endangered African penguin.  Formerly the head of Section for Namibia's Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) and responsible for the conservation management and rescue of the country's seabirds, Jessica now heads the African Penguin Conservation Project. She continues to research Namibia's dwindling penguin population to find ways to improve their conservation status and runs the Seabird Rehabilitation Center in Lüderitz. Population numbers for African penguins have decreased to just 55,000 today from an approximate 1.5 million figure in 1910.

Read all of her guests posts on the Penguin Blog here.

Dr. Jessica Kemper is an expert and advocate for the endangered African penguin.  Formerly the head of Section for Namibia's Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) and responsible for the conservation management and rescue of the country's seabirds, Jessica now heads the African Penguin Conservation Project. She continues to research Namibia's dwindling penguin population to find ways to improve their conservation status and runs the Seabird Rehabilitation Center in Lüderitz. Population numbers for African penguins have decreased to just 55,000 today from an approximate 1.5 million figure in 1910.

In this series of posts, she describes a unique resupply mission to help rescued African penguin chicks being hand-raised in Namibia. Read Part 1, which ended with the rehabilitation team asking for help getting food for the young chicks in their care.

Oh no, what a predicament. It takes eight hours by boat to reach Mercury Island from the small harbor town of Lüderitz; there is no way we could find a boat willing to take a few boxes of frozen sardine that far and at such short notice. Never mind that it would cost an arm and a leg. And getting there by land through the extensive dune fields is definitely not an option either.

Where the Namib meets the sea: much of the coast between Lüderitz and Mercury Island consists of massive dune fields | Photo: Jessica Kemper

“Listen Joan, don’t panic just yet. Let me think about it; I’ll give you a radio-call in an hour—over and out.”

Well, at least it is one of these rare days with perfect weather. No howling wind, no fog. I phone my friend Gino - a conservationist and keen aviator - and discuss my (admittedly rather bizarre) idea of doing a “Mercury-Island-fly-past-sardine-drop” with him. I know it’s a long shot, but Gino is enthusiastic and we immediately start planning our airdrop mission. I call Joan and Rian; they are excited but not entirely convinced that this would work. Two hours later we are in the air in Gino’s bright yellow two-seater Citabria. I am firmly wedged into the narrow back seat, balancing five parcels made of tightly wrapped frozen sardine on my lap. Nearly an hour after take-off we can see the island, and as we get closer we spot Joan and Rian waving from the balcony of their house.

The house on Mercury: there is only one house on Mercury Island. Freshwater and other supplies are brought there by boat | Photo: Jessica Kemper

Stay tuned to for the conclusion to this series of posts: The day it rained sardines in Namibia!

Dr. Jessica Kemper is an expert and advocate for the endangered African penguin.  Formerly the head of Section for Namibia's Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) and responsible for the conservation management and rescue of the country's seabirds, Jessica now heads the African Penguin Conservation Project. She continues to research Namibia's dwindling penguin population to find ways to improve their conservation status and runs the Seabird Rehabilitation Center in Lüderitz. Population numbers for African penguins have decreased to just 55,000 today from an approximate 1.5 million figure in 1910.

In this series of posts, she describes a unique resupply mission to help rescued African penguin chicks being hand-raised in Namibia. 

“Please do not hang up…this call is from a radio…do not speak until after the tone…beeeeeep.” I patiently listened to the tinny voice recording on the other end of my phone. Clearly somebody from one of the three islands that are staffed permanently by personnel from the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources was trying to get hold of me, but which one? Mercury, Ichaboe or Possession Island? I am instantly worried, because it’s usually not a good sign when they phone me at home.

Lonely Mercury Island: One of the jewels of Namibia’s coast, tiny Mercury Island lies in picturesque Spencer Bay, about 100km north of the town of Lüderitz | Photo: Jessica Kemper

“Hi Jessica, it’s Joan from Mercury Island, can you hear me – over.” Ah, Mercury Island, undoubtedly the most beautiful island in the world. A mere 3ha in extent, a rocky cigar-shaped pyramid (or is it actually a pyramid-shaped cigar?), nestled in a stunning bay along the stark Namib Desert coastline of southern Namibia and covered in African penguins, Cape gannets and Bank cormorants. It is hollow, with seven cave entrances meeting in a large central cave below the centre of the island. When the sea is rough, the waves colliding in the belly of the island make the whole island shake.

Mercury penguins: Nearly 17000 African Penguins live on Mercury Island, making it the most important penguin breeding island in Namibias. Dolphin Head and the wreck of the Otavi provide a stunning backdrop. Photo: Jessica Kemper

Bank Cormorant family: About three quarters of the endangered world population of Bank cormorants breeds on tiny Mercury Island | Photo: Jessica Kemper

Gut Cut: One of the seven entrances leading into the central cave below the island,  named so by a former islander with a vivid imagination

“Hello Joan, yes I can hear you fairly well, what’s up? – over.” I hear sobbing over the static. “Jessica, I’m so sorry to bother you, but I have no idea what to do. The supply vessel was supposed to arrive last week, but it broke down and we are now out of fish to feed the four penguin chicks and the gannet chick we are rehabilitating. They are all too young to be released. Rian and I have been catching fish around the clock, but we can’t catch enough to feed the birds with. We desperately need help… – over.”

Plan a visit to the Aquarium to learn about the resident African penguins at the Aquarium. They are part of a North American species survival plan. We had two chicks born here this summer. 

Read the next post in this series: The day it rained sardines in Namibia!