The penguin tour last night from Bicheno Penguin Tours was outstanding. I only got a couple of very bad photos because one of the rules of the tour is no additional light beyond what they provide. The tour started after dark (I originally thought it would be at sunset) because the penguins are out on the water all day long, and come back at dark to feed their young. There were a mix of adult penguins, baby penguins just old enough to go out to the water, and baby penguins not quite ready for the water, being fed by their parents. Penguins can tell their offspring by their smell, and thus won’t feed anyone else’s young but their own.
The penguins have little nests in various nooks and crannys along the shoreline. Some go in as far as a half a kilometer. They’ll nest anywhere, so the rookery has set up various artificial “penguin igloos” to provide a better defense against feral cats and dogs. The guide tries very hard to keep the habitat has natural as possible, and has slowly increased the amount of torchlight to which the penguins are exposed.
This was an incredible experience, and certainly quite different than the commercial production at Phillip Island. We probably saw about 70 penguins, instead of a thousand, but we also got to get within a foot of them, and see where they live in a natural habitat.
I’m writing from a cafe down the street from the hotel. I’ve checked out, and after a side trip this morning back to Coles Bay for some gift shopping, I’m on my way to St. Helens and then Launceston.
