South African Penguins

If you follow the coastline of South Africa, you will eventually hit a small town called Simon's Town. This cute and quiet town is home to a colony of African penguins. This specific colony of penguins decided to call Boulder Beach in Simon's Town their home back in 1982. The species can only be found on the coastlines of South Africa and Namibia and are quite possibly facing extinction. They have become a major tourist attraction and are now under protection of the Cape Nature Conservation.

Boulder Beach is a public beach and is there for all to come and see. People will travel from far and wide to not only view, but swim with these endangered penguins. When I went for myself and saw these beautiful African penguins the colonies population had just increased due to all the new-born chicks. This made the beach overflowing with tourist and locals who all came to see these endangered birds. You can get to view these penguins from close-up due to the boardwalk that is built so visitors do not destroy the habitat. This colony has been able to bounce back and grow their population over the past decades because the bay near Boulder Beach, False Bay, has an abundant amount anchovy and pilchards a huge part of the penguins’ diet. The easy access to a food source helps the colony, but it also helps that man-made shelters are provided to help keep the eggs safe from any predators. This gives each new generation more of a chance to survive and help their colony grow. Although, these penguins are being protected they still face danger every day. Recently roughly thirty penguins were killed due to domestic cats and dogs. This is what happens when a colony finds refuge in a residential area. Fortunately for these penguins they have South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, or SANCCOB for short, they take care of all the harmed or injured penguins and get them rehabilitated. The colony also struggles when the fish population in False Bay plummets. Obviously, when their main food source is scarce there will be a negative effect on the penguin population as well.

These penguins seem to be doing better every year. They have a safe environment with great shelter to reproduce and a bay with plenty of food. Even though they appear to be doing better and have the Cape Nature Conservation helping and the South African for the Conservation of Coastal Birds there are still ways you as tourist and locals can help. On October 17th you can join penguin enthusiasts at Boulder Beach in South Africa to celebrate African Penguin Awareness Day. The more tourist and penguin lovers go out and see this fascinating colony the more awareness will be spread. Getting the public’s attention can affect these endangered South African penguins in a positive way. I believe when Monique Ruthenberg, a conservation manager at CapeNature, says “responsible tourism and the conservation of the African penguin go hand in hand” it is the best way to protect and conserve a species.