www.thevillagenews.co.za
29 January 2020
5
Is it fish or is it fowl? Writer Elaine Davie
I
t can walk – sort of – but it cannot fly; instead, it can dive up to 100m under water. The penguin is a remarkable animal, perfectly adapted for its important role in the marine eco-system. Yet, in the case of the African Penguin which inhabits our oceans, its numbers have plummeted to such an extent that it is now on the endangered species list. Globally, there are 18 penguin species, many of them threatened. Indeed, worldwide, they are the most threatened species after albatrosses and petrels. And if the African Penguin is to escape extinction, then the seven protected colonies in the Western and Eastern Cape – Dassen, Robben and Dyer Islands, together with Boulders and Stony Point in the former, and Bird and St Croix Islands in the latter – must continue to play a critical role. During the first half of the 20th century, there were literally millions of penguins in the country’s various breeding colonies, but in the 1950s large-scale commercial harvesting of eggs and guano dealt a first blow to the numbers. By the mid- to late-1990s when the Department of Fisheries started undertaking regular surveys, it became clear that their source of food had become seriously depleted. Now each of the colonies is lucky if it can boast more than 1 000 breeding pairs. Penguins are not generalised feeders; they rely exclusively on pelagic fish like anchovies and sardines for population sustainability. According to Dr Alistair McInnes, penguin specialist at BirdLife Africa, there are several reasons for the decline in pelagic fish numbers, including altered water temperatures, which have resulted in the populations migrating further east. At the same time, commercial fishing activity increased, which meant that the West Coast colonies were hit with a double whammy. Fortunately, there is not a great deal of purse seine fishing (gill net fishing) in our waters, which presents the additional danger of penguins getting entangled in the nets. In an attempt to slow down the decline in penguin numbers, a study was initiated by the government in 2008, which has just reached its conclusion. “The idea was to introduce a spatial management plan for fishers in the waters surrounding Robben and Dassen Islands in the Western Cape and Bird and St Croix Islands in the Eastern Cape,” explains McInnes. “It was based on a schedule of alternate closed and open fishing cycles of three years each,
within a radius of 20 km from each of these colonies, giving the fish stocks time to recover. I’m happy to say that compliance has been pretty good amongst commercial fishing companies and most of the vessels also now have a monitoring system on board which makes it possible to track their movements.” The final report which is being moderated by an international panel of experts is expected to show positive results and make recommendations for further implementation. At this point, it seems that the South Coast colonies are far more stable than those on the West Coast which have been devastated in recent years. The African penguin habitat stretches from Angola to Port Alfred and thanks to a certain amount of regulation by the South African authorities, we still have a number of viable populations, whereas on the Namibian coast, they have all but disappeared. Because the protected colonies in South Africa are so crucial to the survival of the species, BirdLife Africa is also presently trying to establish a new colony. “One of my colleagues, Christina Hagen is working on the project at De Hoop Nature Reserve,” Alistair says. “We know there are fish out there, but one of the key requirements for establishing a viable population is protecting the animals from predation – by leopards, caracals, genets, mongooses – so our first priority has been to fence the entire area. Now Christina has started putting out penguin decoys and broadcasting penguin calls to attract the birds.” Another intervention is undertaken by SANCCOB on an ongoing basis. As researcher Dr Lauren Waller explains, “We admit between 80 and 200 eggs a year for artificial incubation. These eggs are rescued by conservationists largely because they have been laid in unsafe areas, like the car park at Stony Point, for example. About 70% of them are successfully incubated and hatched at our Chick Rearing Unit and after about three months, when they have lost most of their chicken fluff, are able to swim and are waterproof, they can be released back into the wild. All of them carry transponders and we are able to track their activities as they fledge, become adults and start to breed themselves, thus adding to the population size.”
C OMF OR T &
ST YLE
ABOVE: The Stony Point Reserve in Betty's Bay plays a critical role in the conservation of the African Penguin. PHOTO: CapeNature RIGHT: African Penguins are monogamous and both parents take turns incubating and feeding their chicks, usually two. PHOTO: Jessica Kemper But, other than the fact that they are such cute and iconic little creatures, why is it so important for them not to become extinct? Well, according to Alistair, they are an important indicator species in the Benguela Upwelling System. “A sharp decline in penguin numbers, as we have seen, points to the fact that there is something seriously amiss in this part of the ocean, which will have an impact on other species, too. They are brilliant swimmers and foragers and cover huge distances to find food, but if there is none available within their range, they lose condition, may defer breeding and fewer of their chicks may survive.” Because pelagic fish are generally found near the ocean floor, penguins have a special skill, particularly if they are hunting in groups, which is to herd the fish into ball-shaped schools, guiding them to the surface of the sea, where they can be preyed on by other seabirds and larger fish as well. Their disappearance would therefore also affect the sustainability of other species. Of course, they hold huge tourism potential with concomitant economic benefits for us as well. In a recent calculation it was found that the Boulders colony in Simons Town attracts approximately half a million visitors a year, generating US$2 million in revenue and creating 885 direct and indirect jobs, with a total economic benefit to the country of R311 million per annum. With this in mind, CapeNature is currently planning a major refurbishment and expansion of its facilities at Stony Point, including extending its
educational component, to create greater awareness amongst both adults and children. Indeed, there is much to learn from the fascinating lifecycle of penguins, like the fact that they are monogamous and mother and father take turns incubating and feeding their chicks, usually two. Each year the adults also go through a major moulting process, called the catastrophic moult, during which, for a period of three weeks they remain on land and eat nothing at all. “As you can imagine,” says Lauren, “they are at their most vulnerable during this time when literally all their feathers must be replaced with new ones. It is only once these new feathers are completely waterproof, that they can head back to sea again. “Then for four to five weeks they are hyperphagic, meaning they eat much more than they usually do to replace their lost energy reserves. In fact, they can increase their body weight by about 40% during this time. These are truly remarkable little creatures and the world would definitely be the poorer without them, which is why I’m happy that so many of our NGOs, university academics, commercial fisheries and government departments are all collaborating to ensure their survival. “ For more information, Dr Alistair McInnes can be contacted on alistair.mcinnes@birdlife.org. za and Dr Lauren Waller on lauren@sanccob. co.za or visit the websites www.birdlife.org.za and www.sanccob.co.za
