Penguin viewing is currently closed!
Due to the St Kilda Pier redevelopment, the St Kilda Breakwater is temporarily closed.
You can find out more about the redevelopment project here
St Kilda is home to a colony of over 1,400 Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor), attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year.
In 2008, our research team noticed that the breakwater was starting to attract visitors. We have been operating our famous Penguin Guide service ever since.
Initially, the program involved volunteer penguin guides providing education and ensuring that the public did not use white light or disturb the penguins. As the number of visitors grew, so too did the program. Crowds of thousands of people were visiting the penguins each night with Earthcare St Kilda in attendance every evening of the year, to provide an enriched visitor experience and education
Before the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of the breakwater, guides were rostered in teams to supervise public penguin viewing on the breakwater every night (including Christmas and New Years Eve!)
On particularly busy nights, it was nearly impossible for penguins move around on the breakwater. Penguins arrive home to the breakwater on the bay-side, and often cross along the top of the breakwater to reach their nests. One of the main tasks of a penguin guide was ensure there was a clear path for penguins to move freely. With the new design of the penguin viewing boardwalk, people will no longer share the same path as penguins.
The future of Penguin Guiding
Penguin Guide applications are currently suspended due to the construction of the new pier. The new boardwalk is expected to open late-2024. And we are uncertain what the future of penguin guiding will look like. Earthcare are urging the Victorian Government to endorse our bid to continue as the management body for visitation, research, and conservation of the St Kilda penguin colony.
Watch out for updates on our Instagram and Facebook channels.
Earthcare volunteers manage crowds to assist penguin movement
Earthcare volunteers manage a crowd overflowing from the breakwater onto the pier
The Future of the penguin viewing experience
To better understand community perspectives, we are asking people to have their say via our online survey. Your opinion is important to us. Make sure to have your say before the survey closes at the end of May.
Artist’s impression of the new St Kilda Pier penguin viewing area. Credit: Parks Victoria