The yellow-eyed penguin of New Zealand is one of the rarest species of penguin in the world. Experts estimate the population to be less than 5000 and with current trends the species is predicted to go extinct within the next 50 years. During our trip to the South Island, we took a detour on our way to the Oamaru Steampunk festival to seek out these elusive penguins.
While in Dunedin we learned that they spend the day in the ocean hunting for fish and return to the beach at dusk. But we were also told that it was almost impossible to see them. One local stated that he has never seen a yellow-eyed penguin on any of the beaches in Dunedin. Instead, he offered us an alternative, a sanctuary out east known as "The Penguin Place".
The Penguin Place
The aptly named Penguin Place is a tourism funded conservation centre, started by a local farmer after he discovered yellow-eyed penguins nesting on a beach at the edge of his land. Since opening in 1985 the centre has helped thousands of yellow-eyes.
The rehabilitation centre had three hundred yellow-eyed patients admitted last year alone, most suffering from starvation.
The beach where the yellow-eyes nest is strictly off-limits to members of the public and can only be visited via a guided tour along a labyrinth of trenches and dug hideouts.
The soft sound of shuffling through the narrow sandy trenches was interrupted by a distinct cry, a yellow-eyed was in the area. They are antisocial, a unique trait for penguins. They call out when they are ready to land on the beach as a greeting to their partner but also as a warning to other penguins. This cry earned them the Māori name "hoiho" - noise shouter.
We reached the hideouts, built in the raised dunes on the flanks of the beach and peered through the narrow panorama scanning the coastline for any inbound penguins. It did not take long for our guide to spot our first penguin. He gestured towards a small inconspicuous silhouette bobbing at the water’s edge.
Our guide was clearly well trained in the art of penguin spotting.
Waddling up the beach, protruding belly from a fruitful day of fishing. As the first penguin waddled beyond view below the dunes a duo emerged, then a trio. Our guide said that seeing one penguin was good. But seeing more than three was very lucky. "This is practically an invasion" quipped one member of our group.
Swift and agile in the water. Slow and salient on land.
There is a certain feeling of excitement about seeing endangered animals in their natural habitat.
The last cry
The Penguin Place is a fantastic conservation centre, but there is a sobering sense that despite all their hard work, they can only hope to prolong the inevitable. The species is predicted by some experts to go extinct in the next 50 years.
The yellow-eyes are facing a multi-front attack on their survival; overfishing and the dangers of large trawler nets in the water, invasive species and habitat destruction on the land. Disease has also recently become a major threat that seems to spread quicker with the increasingly warmer weather brought by climate change. They are also the only solitary species of penguin and are unable to adapt to living long-term in captivity. This makes direct intervention very difficult.
The yellow-eyed are not an unknown or unloved species of penguin in New Zealand. They are the laureate of the prestigious New Zealand "Bird of the Year" 2019 award. They also feature on the New Zealand five-dollar bill, a bill that itself has won awards. It is a strange and sad juxtaposition that the bird is both celebrated and being driven to extinction.
Unless there are some major changes in the ways we use the waters and lands of Southern New Zealand, there is a risk that soon nobody will ever hear the cries of the yellow-eyes.