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Protecting Penguins
in the Galapagos
By Barbara Shurman,
SeaWorld Orlando |
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at protecting the endangered Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendeculus) and flightless cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi). Sent on behalf of SeaWorld Orlando and the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, I joined a group of researchers from the Charles Darwin Research Station, the Galapagos National Park Service and various Ecuadorian universities. We lived together on a boat for 10 days to conduct a population census for these two remarkable seabird species.
The results of this recent census were encouraging. In total we counted 1,087 Galapagos penguins a 27 percent increase from the prior year. Of the flightless cormorants, we counted 1,538 individuals - a 9 percent increase. In addition, the team counted and documented 36,062 individuals of other bird species and coastal invertibrates.
The census was no easy task. The days were long. We peered through binoculars for 11 hours straight, sometimes fighting back nausea from choppy seas. Teams of five people were assigned a species to count and call out while a sixth recorded the type, number and exact location using GPS technology. The team also tagged a few individual birds and bird pairs to track movement and collect ethological (see this issue’s Wild Definition) data. We learned that there is actually a small group of 69 penguins in the northern hemisphere (located at 0.18 latitude) – the northernmost colony of penguins in the world. As an aviculturist for SeaWorld, I was thrilled and honored to be sent to such a stunningly beautiful place teeming with birds and other wildlife. To closely observe the wildlife for which the Galapagos Islands are world renowned unforgettable and humbling experience. SeaWorld’s support for the Galapagos Penguin Census began in 1999 and continues to this day. |
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