A penguin colony in a small town on the east coast of the South Island is thriving due to the conservation efforts of Ōamaru Penguins (formerly Ōamaru Blue Penguin Colony).
Ōamaru Penguins, a research, conservation, and tourism facility in Ōamaru, has played a pivotal role in the care and protection of the local penguin population since 1992. A unique experience for kids and adults alike, visitors can watch the little penguins waddle ashore from just a few metres away.
The award-winning facility has bridged the gap between sustainability, conservation, and ethical tourism and is helping contribute world-class environmental research to ensure the colony continues to thrive into the future. Every aspect of its work, from research and ticket sales to monitoring and penguin adoptions, feeds directly back into protecting the kororā.
During the day, guests can look through the specially designed viewing area into ten nesting boxes that house the kororā. Breeding season is from August until February, so there’ll always be residents home incubating eggs, raising chicks, or undertaking their annual moult. School classrooms are invited to interactive sessions to learn about the kororā through educational talks, and activities.
While the daytime is self-guided, the evening is the star of the show and guest can choose between General or Premium entry to view the kororā returning home after the sun sets. It continually attracts a significant number of international visitors, which brings wider flow-on benefits for the Waitaki district.
Revenue generated from ticket sales supports the important conservation work undertaken by the team to monitor the penguins and their progress. Each penguin is identified with a microchip, which enables researchers to follow the lives of every individual, for example how many chicks they raise in their lifetime. This helps the team understand how environmental changes might affect the population. Investment into data logging devices helps record where they go at sea, how deep they dive, how fast they swim, and the temperature that surrounds them.
During the breeding season, the research has found penguins regularly swim 50km per day to keep their chicks well fed and the longest dive recorded lasted just over two minutes.
By providing crucial data and information about the penguins, the colony plays a vital role in advancing worldwide research efforts.
This September, a major upgrade to the visitor centre will be unveiled and it will feature new storytelling displays, interactive spaces and updated educational content focused on the research and conservation work.
Guests can learn about what makes kororā so special, then build their own digital penguin, before viewing the little penguins in their natural environment. The refurbishment will mark an exciting new era for Ōamaru Penguins.
“We look forward to continuing to share the magic of our penguins with the world,” says Cyndi Christensen, General Manager of Operations and Commercial.
- For more information and to book your ticket visit penguins.co.nz
