African Penguins

If you have seen penguins in a zoo, there is a good chance that they are African Penguins because they have adapted to warmer climates and do not need a cool environment. Part of this adaptation is in the pink patches above the eyes. It is a place where the blood travels to get cooled before circulating through the rest of their body.

There are several colonies around South Africa, often they are on the surrounding islands like Robben Island. The colony that we visited was on the eastern coast of the Cape Peninsula at Boulders Beach. It is a part of the Table Mountain Nature Reserve as is most of the peninsula.

We arrived at the beach around lunchtime after visiting the cape lighthouse. The restaurant was ready for us so we enjoyed the view from the patio and the food and beverages.

The sun was at just the right angle to make the water look like there were diamonds floating in the bay.

After lunch, it was a short walk to the penguin colony where most of the ones we could see were just being cool on the beach.

Usually, the penguins dig a small pit for a nest and it is in their own guano which would be covering the sand. That was natures way.

Now that opportunists have been gathering and selling the guano for fertilizer, naturalists have been providing another form of housing for the penguins.

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Although I have shown a few pictures of the penguins alone, they do live in colonies and form monogamous pairs to look after the eggs and the young.

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Once upon a time, there was an oil spill and the people came to help us.

Penguins spend a large part of their life feeding in the water.

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The young chicks are able to swim and catch their own food before they moult. However, when they start moulting they have to stay on land for a few weeks since the new feathers are not waterproof when they first emerge. That is a three week fast, and it probably seems like a long time.

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