uShaka Sea World staff celebrate penguins with waddle on the promenade
The SAAMBR staff, who selflessly care for the penguins at uShaka Marine World, honoured them with a waddle along the promenade.
TO celebrate World Penguin Day, which fell on Tuesday, April 25, some of the staff from the South African Association for Marine Biology Research (SAAMBR), from uShaka Sea World, dressed as various different species of penguins and went for a waddle along the promenade during their lunch break.
World Penguin Day raises awareness of the birds in an attempt to try to preserve them for future generations. The day is an annual event to celebrate the lives of penguins around the world and raise awareness of the dangers they face while we try to preserve the species for decades to come.
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The uShaka Sea World penguin exhibit is home to a thriving colony of African penguins. This exhibit has been specially designed to ensure that the birds receive the best possible care. uShaka Sea World has housed African penguins since 1980, when the first stranded birds were received. Since then, the colony has grown from strength to strength and hundreds of penguins have hatched successfully. The programme is now so successful that birds are sent to supplement the gene pools of other breeding colonies.
According to the SAAMBR website, the African Penguin is an endangered species as numbers in the wild have dropped dramatically over the last 100 years. “Also known as the Jackass Penguin because of their donkey-like bray, the African penguin is the only species that breeds on the African continent. These flightless birds waddle and hop clumsily on land until they reach the water, where they suddenly transform into streamlined and agile swimmers able to reach speeds of up to 20 kilometres per hour. They can stay submerged for as long as two minutes, as they dart around looking for small fish to eat. The black-and-white colouration is known as counter-shading, with the white on the underside blending in with the water surface when seen from below, and the black on the back helping to camouflage the birds when seen from above. This helps the penguins to avoid predators at sea.”
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To see the SAAMBR staff, who selflessly care for the penguins at uShaka Marine World, honour them with a waddle along the promenade, watch the video below:
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