Bored And Lonely Zoo Penguins Gifted A Bubble Machine

Newquay Zoo decided to cheer up its penguins with some bubbles.

The lockdown restrictions in Cornwall prevented the penguins from keeping up their usual routine. Staff wanted to keep the birds entertained when someone donated a bubble machine to the zoo.

“Things have had to change a little bit during lockdown,” zookeeper Dan Trevelyan told Cornwall Live. “The animals’ routines has changed a little bit on a daily basis and we’ve had to cut out some of the experiences and things they would receive throughout the day.”

A brief clip shows the penguins captivated by the steady stream of flowing bubbles in their habitat. The reason why the species enjoys chasing the bubbles so much is that it triggers their instincts as predators.

To read more on this story, click here: Bored And Lonely Zoo Penguins Gifted A Bubble Machine

'Gay' Penguins Manage to Successfully Hatch Baby Chick and Are Taking Turns to Look After It

At the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in Australia, caretakers noticed that two male gentoo penguins, Sphen and Magic, had become inseparable. During breeding season, the pair were constantly seen swimming together and waddling around together. Then they began presenting each other with pebbles, a clear sign of romantic interest. (For penguins, pebbles are like diamonds, demonstrating they wish to become a couple.)

The aquarium quickly noticed Sphen and Magic had formed a serious bond. "They recognized each other’s signature calls and songs," said Penguin Department Supervisor Tish Hannan. "Only bonded penguins will be able to successfully find their partner using their calls when they are separated." When the couple constructed a nest out of stones, caretakers provided them with a dummy egg to practice incubating.

To read more on this story, click here: 'Gay' Penguins Manage to Successfully Hatch Baby Chick and Are Taking Turns to Look After It

Heartbreaking Story: 150,000 Adelie Penguins Dead, as Iceberg Dooms Rest of Colony

An Antarctic iceberg the size of a major city that's blocked access to the sea since 2010 for thousands of Adelie penguins threatens to completely wipe out the colony.

Once 160,000 strong, the flightless birds now number only 10,000 after being forced to waddle some 40 miles in search of food, according to new research from the Climate Change Research Center at Australia’s University of New South Wales.

Scientists predict the colony will vanish in 20 years unless the ice breaks up or the giant iceberg, which measures 1,000 square miles, is somehow dislodged.

The penguins of Cape Denison traditionally have relied on easy access to the ocean for feeding. But an ice floe that gradually increased in size pressed in on the bay. Six years ago, it made contact with the land and effectively sealed off the bird's traditional route to the sea. Many penguins could not successfully complete the long trek to another sea outlet now required for feeding.

“The arrival of iceberg B09B in Commonwealth Bay, East Antarctica, and subsequent fast ice expansion has dramatically increased the distance Adélie penguins breeding at Cape Denison must travel in search of food,” the researchers wrote in an article in Antarctic Science.

"It's eerily silent now," Chris Turney, a climate change professor with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, which has been tracking the penguins' decline, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The ones that we saw at Cape Denison were incredibly docile, lethargic, almost unaware of your existence," he said. "The ones that are surviving are clearly struggling. They can barely survive themselves, let alone hatch the next generation. We saw lots of dead birds on the ground ... it's just heartbreaking to see."

The birds will not migrate, he added. "They're stuck there," he said. "They're dying."

Australia’s Oldest Man at 109 Knits Adorable Sweaters for Penguins

Alfie Date began knitting in 1932 when he was just twenty-six years old, but it wasn’t until 2013 when Australia’s oldest man started knitting sweaters for Phillip Island’s little penguin population.

The penguins, who were still being affected by an oil spill that occurred in 2001, had been unintentionally swallowing dangerous chemicals as they attempted to clean the oil off their feathers. When he heard about the Penguin Foundation of Phillip Island’s call for knitters to create “jumpers” for the flightless birds, the 109-year-old Alfie put his eighty-plus years of experience to work.

Phillip Island is home to about 32,000 little penguins. They are the smallest penguins in the world, and the only species with blue (rather than black) and white feathers as an adult.

Their feathers are waterproof when clean, but when oiled they can separate and leave the penguin open to exposure. The sweaters, besides preventing the penguins from swallowing toxic oil, keep the little penguins warm, dry, and snuggly, and ultimately keep them alive.

Ralph the Penguin Needs Wet Suit to Stay Warm

Penguins typically don't need help staying warm, but a Humboldt penguin in the United Kingdom has a special wet suit for when the temperature drops.

While all penguins molt or shed their old feathers for a few weeks in the summer, Ralph, a 16-year-old Humboldt penguin at Marwell Wildlife, near Winchester in the United Kingdom, has "extreme molts" that cause bald spots on his skin, according to Ross Brown, the animal collections manager of birds at the center.

To read more on this story, click here: Ralph the Penguin Needs Wet Suit to Stay Warm

This Robotic Penguin Chick is Doing Undercover Work in Antarctica

If you're going to build a robotic spy, you might as well make it a cutie -- especially if it needs to go incognito in crowds of adorable penguin chicks and their parents.

Researchers report in Nature Methods that they've created a new tool for penguin research: A furry fake penguin perched atop a remote-controlled rover.

To read more on this story, click here: This Robotic Penguin Chick is Doing Undercover Work in Antarctica

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