“Our first priority is to rehabilitate the penguins so they can return to the wild, the ones who wouldn’t survive because of ongoing illness or injury we can provide a home for at the National Aquarium,” Cuthbert said.
She said during feeding time there can be lots of mischief.
“There is sand flicking tactics, sneaking up and stealing fish from other penguin’s mouths and much more. Kaewa even kicked his boyfriend Dave out of their burrow for an unknown reason and it took many weeks for him to return,” Cuthbert said.
Most of the kororā arrive at the rehabilitation centre because they’ve been abandoned as chicks, suffered injuries from seabird attacks or other predators, have become sick in the wild, or have been injured in dog attacks.
“Once recovered and ready, little penguins are sent back out into the wild. But some are unfortunately not strong enough to return to their natural habitats, so they find a permanent home at the Aquarium’s Penguin Cove.”
She said while there had been some decrease in votes over the seven years, people around the world were still highly engaged with Penguin of the Year on social media, as well as the Aquarium’s Penguin of the Month posts.
“We changed the process slightly to make it quicker and easier for our followers to keep track of the voting.
“The first year we ran the campaign (when Timmy won Penguin of the Year) we received more than 10,000 votes, our highest year was in 2020 with almost 16,000 when Captain (king of nest building) won.”
Among the participants this year the 2023 champion, Mr Mac, and the Cove’s latest addition, Maggie.
Five out of the six previous winners are still at Penguin Cove.
“Unfortunately Dora, a huge favourite with followers and visitors alike and 2022 winner, died in 2023.”
While the average person might have difficulty identifying one penguin from another, the team at Penguin Cove don’t have that problem.
“Our dedicated team is amazing at identifying each penguin. Some ways of telling them apart are quite obvious. Captain only has one eye, and Flip has one flipper after being caught in fishing nylon.
“However, some are a bit more tricky for our visitors to tell apart. Our keepers look at their colouring, shape of their beaks, size and even the way they swim or even stand.
“For example, Timmy who has a spinal injury from a boat strike spends most of his time in the water, but stands slightly differently when outside of the water – almost resting on his bottom and can be a bit wobbly when he walks.”
The saddest thing for the team to deal with is unnecessary penguin deaths due to people not controlling their dogs in areas that penguins are nesting.
“Around the coastline is their natural home and deaths could be prevented if people kept their dogs on their leads,” Cuthbert said.
“A little penguin’s natural life expectancy is around 10 years, however in Penguin Cove we have had them live into their late teens and early 20s.”
“We’re really encouraging the public to get involved in Penguin of the Year by voting for their favourite kororā. It’s a fun way to share a serious message about the importance of looking after little penguins and keeping them safe.”
For more information about Penguin of the Year, people can visit nationalaquarium.co.nz or the National Aquarium’s social media channels. The Penguin of the Year winner will be announced on October 30.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
