Help for little penguins ahead of breeding season

A little penguin colony in North Canterbury has received a helping hand ahead of their breeding season.

Volunteers turned out in force on Saturday to tidy up the little penguin sanctuary next to the South Bay Harbour in Kaikōura.

The sanctuary was developed by the Kaikōura Ocean Research Institute (KORI) more than four years ago, in partnership with the community.

The colony was fenced off to protect the penguins from dogs, cats, hedgehogs, rats and humans.

KORI director Dr Jody Weir said the autumn was the ideal time for an annual clean up.

‘‘This is the time of year when the penguins have finished their annual moult and it is a month before they start breeding.

‘‘Once eggs are laid, there’s always penguins onshore, so this is the time of year when there are no penguins about during the day.’’

Dr Weir said the penguins went through ‘‘a catastrophic moult’’ when they lost all their feathers at once and lost a lot of weight, as they were unable to go to sea to feed.

‘‘Their feathers are like a wetsuit. They don’t even feel the water.’’

Volunteers cleaned out the nest boxes of feathers and penguin droppings, and did weeding and general maintenance.

Dr Weir said removing the underbrush meant rats and mice had nowhere to hide.

The Kaikōura Lions joined in to repair the fencing.

The colony has been fenced off to deter predators, with the penguins able to access the nesting area via a tunnel.

Before fencing off the colony, Mr Weir said there were dogs and other predators running through the nesting area.

‘‘The dogs like the penguins because they squeak.

‘‘People just being curious can be a threat in opening up nest boxes and having a look.’’

In the busy harbour area, penguins could be killed at sea, on the road or under houses, so giving them an enclosed area provided some protection.

The South Bay colony is believed to be the only little penguin colony along the Kaikōura coastline.

The fencing was funded by grants from the Kaikōura District Council, Ryman Healthcare and Kaikōura’s two Lions clubs.

‘‘It is nothing fancy. I think a cat could get over it and a person could climb over it, but it is a deterrent,’’ Dr Weir said.

Volunteers used trapping inside the enclosure to catch any predators which did get inside.

Signage has been created by local school children, including a billboard giving a cartoon story of the life cycle of a penguin.

KORI has been running a penguin education and awareness programme with local school children, community groups and visiting university students for the last 12 years.

‘‘We sit outside the colony and talk about the penguins, the threats and what we can do to help them,’’ Dr Weir said.

‘‘And we take small groups in to have a look at the penguins.

‘‘There is no touching of the penguins and they may only have 10 seconds looking at a penguin, but the kids love it.’’

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.