Amber's Conservation Effort: Galapagos Penguin

I love penguins! I even have one tattooed on my foot so my love for them runs very deep. There are many different types of penguins, not all of them even live in Antarctica. I was heartbroken to discover that there are less than a thousand breeding pairs of Galapagos Penguins in the entire world. These penguins are the smallest in South America and they are on the brink of disappearing forever.

Penguin Basics

Penguins feed on small fish, in this case, extremely small since the penguin here is less than 20 inches tall and about 4 and a half pounds. They are so tiny! The adults are black and white but young penguins have a gray plumage, slowly molting to their adult colors.

Warmer Water Penguins

Living in the warmer waters is totally different from their amigos in Antarctica. These guys have to deal with waters from around 60 to 80 degrees. Not to mention when it’s time for an El Nino. I took physical geography; most people don’t so I won’t get into the details right now.

Not on Ice but on Rocks

These penguins don’t have ice to live on; they have rocky cliffs and shores. They have adapted differently than most other penguins. Galapagos Penguins have a very long and narrow bill because sometimes the food they eat is between rocks. The rocky cliffs are also utilized to build their nests which are quite effective against their predators. Not only do they have sharks to deal with but even hawks and rats can take a Galapagos penguin.

Sexy Time

As most people know penguins mate for life, a pebble is sometimes even given to one mate as a token of commitment. What happens to this pebble later? No idea! What’s awesome about living in the warmer climate is that it allows for mating throughout the year because of the change in temperature which in turn brings a change in nutrients available to them in the water (more geography stuff). Most of the time the mother will lay 2 eggs at a time and 6 weeks later is hatching time. For the first month one of the parents is constantly watching the baby. They switch off to get food for the hatchling and themselves.

What the El Nino Means

Hopefully most of us are somewhat familiar with what the El Nino does. Basically it raises water temperatures by 20 degrees and the nutrients for fish stay in deeper waters which means the fish do as well. El Nino’s can last for 3 to 7 years and the heat can just be too much for the penguins. Galapagos penguins use their flippers to shade their feet so they don’t get sunburned. Older penguins even turn a brown color from the intense heat. If anyone were to go down and see them at this time then the penguins would be hunched over in a sad attempt to stay cool. The last two El Nino’s reduced their population down 50%. Without establishing an equilibrium point with their environment these penguins are not destined to survive.

Endangered Status

Not only is the El Nino causing major decreases in populations humans haven’t helped either. Most of the predators that have put a damper on their population are domestic animals. Plus, being small leaves them as an easy target. Overall, the increased El Nino cycles that are perhaps caused from global warming is set to bring this species down.

What Can I Do

Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do to help the Galapagos Penguins but there are other penguins that are in need of help. SeaWorld has been successful in many breeding programs and has also established a Conservation Fund that helps penguins and lots of other animals as well. So enjoy the Galapagos Penguins now, but let’s save their cousins!