tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36924244043415664722024-03-18T12:37:10.831-04:00Penguin BlogNEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.comBlogger155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-11530614794110404812016-06-09T17:23:00.000-04:002016-06-10T12:54:44.168-04:00Fluff and Feathers: Little Blue Penguin ChicksLittle blue penguins are the smallest species of penguin in the world. When visitors step up to their exhibit across from the Gift Shop, many exclaim, "Aww, look at the babies!" Except they're not babies. While they are petite and noticeably smaller than their African and rockhopper neighbors, the birds on exhibit are not babies.
BUT! This spring, the babies weren't far. We're thrilled to share NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-31913141982413648472016-01-07T10:00:00.002-05:002016-01-19T13:13:57.597-05:00Penguin Awareness Day — January 20
Wednesday, January 20, 2016, is penguin awareness day (not to be confused with World Penguin Day—we'll take any chance to celebrate penguins, amirite?). What a great excuse to take a break and visit the penguins mid-week! While we have regular talks and feedings throughout the day, we thought we would arm you with some extra fun facts about these amazing birds.
African penguins are closely NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-69097339740032050872015-08-05T10:13:00.000-04:002015-08-05T10:13:05.126-04:00A Few New FeathersEarlier 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-38299430144102154592015-03-11T09:23:00.001-04:002015-03-11T09:51:54.029-04:00Guest Post | The day it rained sardines in Namibia: Part 3Dr. 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!NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-35552279976538042572015-02-04T17:11:00.001-05:002015-02-04T17:11:07.900-05:00Guest Post | The day it rained sardines: Part 2Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-14758447986683919272015-01-26T11:19:00.002-05:002015-02-04T17:11:43.672-05:00Guest Post | The day it rained sardines: Part 1Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-12426956773851980342014-12-24T15:15:00.000-05:002014-12-29T15:18:16.132-05:00Finding the perfect giftEach year we like to get holiday gifts for our volunteers to thank them for their hard work and dedication throughout the year. In past years we have given out cute penguin ornaments, penguin water bottles, we even helped all our volunteers live blue™ by giving them waterproof reusable bags to bring their wet bathing suits home instead of using plastic bags. This year we were having a hard time NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-3522410107311647982014-11-01T08:47:00.000-04:002014-11-01T08:47:00.508-04:00Guest Post | Fossil Evidence for the Rise of Penguins: Australia and AfricaDaniel Ksepka, PhD, is the Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum. Ksepka earned his PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University in 2007 and spent five years in residence at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he performed his dissertation research on the fossil record of penguins and gained broad experience in the curation and study of natural NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-66832463853307281962014-10-29T09:11:00.000-04:002014-10-29T10:55:13.759-04:00Guest Post | Fossil Evidence for the Rise of Penguins: South AmericaDaniel Ksepka, PhD, is the Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum. Ksepka earned his PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University in 2007 and spent five years in residence at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he performed his dissertation research on the fossil record of penguins and gained broad experience in the curation and study of natural NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-52368913209104625112014-10-28T09:46:00.000-04:002014-10-28T12:54:09.914-04:00Guest Post | Fossil Evidence for the Rise of Penguins: AntarcticaDaniel Ksepka, PhD, is the Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum. Ksepka earned his PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University in 2007 and spent five years in residence at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he performed his dissertation research on the fossil record of penguins and gained broad experience in the curation and study of natural NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-7680570799415805752014-10-27T10:53:00.000-04:002014-10-27T11:31:14.664-04:00Guest Post | Fossil Evidence for the Rise of Penguins: Prehistoric PenguinsDaniel Ksepka, PhD, is the Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum. Ksepka earned his PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University in 2007 and spent five years in residence at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he performed his dissertation research on the fossil record of penguins and gained broad experience in the curation and study of natural history NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-87724876475253880552014-09-27T15:57:00.000-04:002014-09-27T15:57:00.310-04:00Breeding: CandlingHere is a video of a little blue penguin egg being candled several times throughout its 38 day incubation period.
By shining a concentrated beam of light though the egg we can get a glimpse inside to determine if the egg is fertile.
A penguin egg
We first candle the egg when it is about 10 days old. If it is fertile, we will see a small bean sized embryo with a network of veins. NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-43979642805773482562014-08-23T08:17:00.000-04:002014-08-23T08:17:00.252-04:00Breeding: The Best NestFor penguins an important first step to breeding success is having a proper nest. Among the penguin species you will find several different types of nest styles.
Many penguin species are considered surface nesters. This means they will collect materials and build a nest directly on the ground. The type of materials used to build the nest depends on the species and what is available. For exampleNEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-91253370673510633102014-08-18T08:34:00.000-04:002014-08-18T08:34:00.030-04:00Breeding: Summertime FunTo most people summer means no school, vacations, barbeques and going to the beach. To the penguin staff it means breeding season.
Earlier this spring we brought four of our SSP-approved (meaning specifically chosen to produce a genetically healthy and diverse population) little blue penguin breeding pairs behind the scenes to start the breeding season. Just recently, seven of our NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-711646651138841242014-08-04T17:23:00.000-04:002014-08-04T17:23:33.404-04:00Penguins in Peril: Introduced PredatorsYou have probably learned through school or even from watching the Disney movie The Lion King, that many organisms are interconnected to each other in an ecosystem through predator/prey relations (aka the Circle of Life). On occasion non-native organisms are introduced into an environment, and can be disruptive to the ecosystem, as they compete with the native organisms for resources. TheseNEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-34927699017095923402014-07-29T12:17:00.000-04:002014-07-29T12:18:50.874-04:00Penguins around the world: Yellow-eyed penguinsThe African, rockhopper and little blue penguins here at the Aquarium allow visitors to get to know three very interesting penguin species. There are 15 other interesting penguin species in the world just waiting for you to discover them. Over the next couple weeks, we will introduce more penguin species!
The yellow eyed penguin gets its name from their characteristic, pale yellow eyes and NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-4587995999729851872014-07-22T16:20:00.000-04:002014-07-29T11:50:28.256-04:00Guest Post | An uncooperative African Penguin: Part 6Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-39715344377220152072014-07-21T12:16:00.002-04:002014-07-21T12:23:40.968-04:00Guest Post | An uncooperative African Penguin: Part 5Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-69062807836063333772014-07-16T13:11:00.002-04:002014-07-21T12:19:13.312-04:00Guest Post | An uncooperative African Penguin: Part 4Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-76727246237134025322014-07-11T10:23:00.000-04:002014-07-21T12:24:04.393-04:00Guest Post | An uncooperative African Penguin: Part 3Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-64890616649104929032014-07-09T13:21:00.000-04:002014-07-21T12:24:18.103-04:00Guest Post | An uncooperative African Penguin: Part 2Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-73580605571068500552014-07-08T09:16:00.000-04:002014-07-21T12:24:57.522-04:00Guest Post | An uncooperative African Penguin: Part 1Dr. 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 NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-61285672843542899062014-07-05T08:26:00.000-04:002014-07-05T08:26:00.052-04:00Myth #1: “Someone stole a penguin?!?”When people find out that I work at the Aquarium, there is no shortage of questions and interesting small talk. I often get asked: “Is it true that a child stole a penguin and brought it home in his backpack?”
Don’t be alarmed. All of our penguins are present and accounted for and this story is a common urban legend that has been circulating for years.
All penguins present and accounted for!NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-86811391976495376292014-07-01T08:53:00.000-04:002014-07-01T08:53:00.142-04:00Macaroni vs. rockhopper penguinsOften while in the penguin exhibit we hear visitors ask if we have macaroni penguins. At first this may sound quite weird. Is there even a species of penguin called the macaroni and if there is, why would they be named after a type of pasta?
Macaroni penguin
Well, there is in fact a species of penguin called the macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus). They are one of the 7 penguin species NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3692424404341566472.post-35070765448420284102014-06-27T14:06:00.000-04:002014-06-30T09:29:16.903-04:00Penguinology: Explore the Secret World of PenguinsIf you like penguins—because of their signature waddle, dapper feathers, impressive trills, speedy underwater flight—then get yourself to the New England Aquarium this summer!
Not only are there more than 80 penguins to observe bounding, eating, swimming and squawking around their exhibit, but we have a brand new, family-friendly program all about the secret world of penguins! It's called NEAQhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096104970335431798noreply@blogger.com0