Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Voting open in National Aquarium of New Zealand Penguin of the Year Awards

By Georgia May
Hawkes Bay Today·
30 Sep, 2018 06:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Yesterday was world penguin day, here is sneak peek at a Gentoo penguin discovering water for the first time at Kelly Tarltons.

There's no question penguins have quirky personalities and the small colony at Napier National Aquarium has won the hearts of many.

The aquarium is now giving the public a chance to vote for their favourite flippered friend in the first ever National Aquarium of New Zealand Penguin of the Year Awards.

Throughout the year, the keepers have been voting on which flightless friend deserves both the "good" and "naughty" penguin title each month.

The 2017 winners were Timmy and Betty, with Timmy nearly breaking the internet, as his "naughty penguin of the month" title captured special interest.

At that time, he was always trying to steal fish, knocking other penguins out of the way to get the food. He flicked sand, often fell over and when getting up, continued to flick sand everywhere including into his trainer's eyes and in the food.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Timmy's 'steal food' post reached 35,000 people on social media.

He was originally found on a local beach with a spinal injury. He was unable to walk, let alone stand. He dragged himself around the beach with his beak and flippers.

As a result he's had chiropractic work done and went to Massey for some initial treatment, but due to his injuries he was unable to return to the wild.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

National Aquarium acting manager Kerry Hewitt says followers of their Facebook and Instagram pages eagerly await the messages each month.

"Over a year on, the little penguins are as popular as ever, with lots of people specifically coming to see the penguins as a result of the social media posts.

"Many of them are also taking up the opportunity to have a very special penguin encounter where they can feed the penguins and learn about conservation and the challenge penguins face in our environment."

Each penguin is unique and has their own special story, as they were brought into the aquarium either because they were abandoned as chicks, are partially sighted, became sick in the wild or were injured in dog attacks.

Discover more

New Zealand

Bay hosts new biodiversity announcement

09 Oct 01:12 AM

Excitement builds ahead of arts festival

10 Oct 06:00 PM

Some are even missing flippers due to getting caught in fishing nylon.

"These special penguins really have captured the heart of Facebook followers, and enabled the aquarium to share its conversation messages."

The National Aquarium acts as a rehabilitation centre for most of the little penguins, sending them back out into the wild when they are recovered and ready.

Some however, are unfortunately not strong enough to return to their natural habitats, and call the aquarium their permanent home.

The first round of voting to select the top two finalists is open from today until October 10 on the National Aquarium website -www.nationalaquarium.co.nz- where people can also learn more about the penguins and what makes each of them unique.

Two finalists will be announced for the public to vote on through a poll on social media platforms.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The announcement of Penguin of the Year is due to be made on October 31.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

'Amazing achievements': Hawke's Bay Export Awards finalists announced

07 Jul 04:25 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

‘He’s smooth. He’s a practised thief’: Former club CEO had a secret criminal past

07 Jul 04:10 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

One lane reopens after diesel spill on Napier-Taupō road

07 Jul 04:03 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

'Amazing achievements': Hawke's Bay Export Awards finalists announced

'Amazing achievements': Hawke's Bay Export Awards finalists announced

07 Jul 04:25 AM

The winners will be celebrated at Toitoi Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre on July 31.

‘He’s smooth. He’s a practised thief’: Former club CEO had a secret criminal past

‘He’s smooth. He’s a practised thief’: Former club CEO had a secret criminal past

07 Jul 04:10 AM
One lane reopens after diesel spill on Napier-Taupō road

One lane reopens after diesel spill on Napier-Taupō road

07 Jul 04:03 AM
'Massive cleanup': Fire damages Napier cocktail bar just months after opening

'Massive cleanup': Fire damages Napier cocktail bar just months after opening

07 Jul 04:03 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP