Catch us on the ABC!
Our Research Coordinator Flossy Sperring and her Research Assistant Tia Scott were featured on Catalyst’s “The Secret Life of Our Urban Birds!” Click here to see them talking about the St Kilda Penguins and some of the work we’ve been up to.
Flossy and Tia meet up with Ann Jones again on the ABC Special Meet the Penguins. Click here to meet the penguins!
Penguin Research Group
For 35 years, volunteers from the Penguin Research Group ventured out onto the rocks of the St Kilda breakwater to record information on the little penguins that nest there. This research was important for microchipping individual penguins and understanding patterns of breeding and moult over the years. Data from this research has been used by a number of Universities to investigate toxicology, the health of Port Phillip Bay and general trends in the little penguin population.
Thanks to Funding from the Federal Government for the Communities Environment Program, we were able to put together this summary from all data collected since 1986.
Overall the population appears to be growing with more adults and chicks being caught each year. Unfortunately due to COVID-19, the research team hasn’t been able to conduct our regular fortnightly surveys in the same consistent way. This gave our team the opportunity to reflect on our program and it’s ability to accurately detect population trends.
We noticed that the current program was a bit out-of-date and in order to accurately monitor this amazing/tricky/important colony, we needed an upgrade!
In the news:
– “Uncovering the Secret Life of St Kilda’s Little Penguins”
– “St Kilda’s penguins have been taking a break from visitors, but volunteers are still working to protect them“
What’s next?
Our team are working hard to develop a new monitoring program which can accurately estimate population declines (or incline!) This will be crucial for management of the colony into the future and the core value that Earthcare St Kilda sees for monitoring these special penguins.
For now the team will continue to check on locations of moulting or breeding penguins to help inform the St Kilda Pier Redevelopment so that the penguins are safe during construction. Stay tuned for more information on our new monitoring program to come!
Licensing and supervision
All members of the Penguin Research Team are trained in the handling and monitoring of little penguins and samples are collected, where appropriate, under the supervision of veterinarians and/or qualified biologists.
All research and monitoring activities are undertaken with the permission of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Parks Victoria.