In recent years there have been some significant population changes whose causes are not fully understood, but are widely believed to be due to the increase in commercial fishing off the South African coast. Ten years ago the largest populations were on Dassen and Dyer Islands off the Cape. However, the populations on both these islands have been falling rapidly over the last few years, so much so that some fear that they may soon become unviable. At the same time, the population on St Croix Island near Port Elizabeth has risen and this island is now home to most of the world's African penguins. A few other colonies have also been growing at the same time, notably those on Robben Island and the principal mainland colony at Boulders Beach. Nevertheless, the growth in these colonies is still much less than the reductions reported on Dassen and Dyer so that the population remains in overall decline.
Since all the colonies are close to major shipping lanes the African penguin is extremely susceptible to the risk of oil spills. Indeed, in recent years there have been two major spills that have claimed many penguins, despite the excellent work of the volunteers at SANCCOB to rescue and rehabilitate these birds.
Now there is an even greater threat. There are plans to build a major sea terminal on the coast very near St Croix. In fact the new sea walls would come within a kilometre of this island. The potential for disaster is very great, if just one large ship were to run aground on the rocky shores the resulting oil spillages could decimate the largest remaining African penguin colony.
What can you do? You can support SANCCOB, the organisation that rescues oiled birds and campaigns for better conservation measures. SANCCOB is a purely voluntary organisation that is permanently starved of funds. Contact SANCCOB at PO Box 11-116, 7443 Bloubergrant, South Africa.
Yellow-eyed penguins are found on the East Coast of South Island, mostly around the Otago Peninsula as well as on two remote sub-Antarctic Islands. Numbers on the mainland have declined steeply over the last few decades as more and more land has been used for agriculture, destroying the natural vegetation that provided nesting cover for these shy birds. Recent interest mainly generated by the The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust has alerted local residents and farmers and now several reserves have been set up and at least one farmer is taking positive steps to encourage the penguins back on his land.
Fiordland penguins are only found on the isolated West coast of South Island and Stewart Island and are in danger for two reasons. First, man has introduced several animals (rats, stoats, cats, dogs, etc.) that attack penguins in their nests and take chicks and eggs. Secondly, as the human population grows, so people are starting to move in to the remote areas where these birds breed. At present, little is known about the population of these birds, or how it is changing as man encroaches on their living space.
On the Galapagos Islands there is a small enclave of penguins. Galapagos penguins are easily the most northerly of all penguins living right on the equator. With the development of the Galapagos Islands over the last few years there has been a reduction in the number of these small birds. How serious this reduction is remains to be seen.
The other threat is global warming, all penguins live in and around the fertile cold seas. As the Earth heats up so penguins will need to move to breeding grounds further south. Clearly they have achieved this in past ice ages. However, the problem this time is that the changes seem to be occurring very quickly, so that the penguins may not be able to adapt to new sites quickly enough to avoid disaster.