Penguin Poop – Chocolate Candy

It never ends does it? I must learn where the marketing department found that people like to eat poop. Here we have another contender for candy loosely resembling penguin pooh. At least it’s not in an automatic dispenser.

“Penguin Poop” – Chocolate Candy. Are you struggling to find a penguin gift for the person that has everything? How about one of our famous jars of “Penguin Poop”? Besides being a fantastic penguin conversation piece, the chocolate rock candy really tastes great. Why not buy a case and stock up for that long hard penguin winter?

7.2 OZ resealable jars

At least the candy doesn’t actually resemble real penguin poop. That’d be quite disgusting. Maybe it could be an ICEE or ice cream flavor. No, no. Ew. Nevermind.

[via PenguinsLand]

Penguins fish with friends

Penguins make friends with each other and team up when they go on fishing trips, research has revealed.

Little penguins, the smallest penguin species, have been observed crossing the beach in groups of about five to ten as they go on long trips to find food for their chicks.

It is thought this grouping makes them less vulnerable to attacks from predators, but researchers led by Andre Chiaradia of the Philip Island Nature Park in Australia decided to see whether the penguins seek to choose particular fishing partners.

They recorded arrivals and departures of little penguins over four consecutive breeding seasons and were able to identify the birds using a microchip placed under the skin.

According to the New Scientist, they found that middle-aged animals did tend to team up with the same penguins on different trips.

They propose that grouping together with friends could be because they help to share knowledge about particular feeding sites.

However when fish were less scarce the birds were not so keen to fish with friends, suggesting they wanted to fish alone to avoid sharing food.

Older and younger penguins, which are less likely to be good fishers, were never picked to be part of the team.

[via PenguinsLand]

Chinstrap at NYC Zoo

Credit: JS300 at flickr

Breaking the Surface

Credit: coastal eddy at flickr

Penguins: A Wordwide Guide

Penguins: A Worldwide Guide by Remy Marion is for the most part a reference book that overviews characteristics, behaviors, regional information of every penguin species in superb detail. The species are sorted by their associated genus and each section is laid out in the same order: descriptions of adults, immatures, and chicks; breeding; chick-rearing; foraging & diet; Survival; and population & distribution. This book includes full color photographs which add immensely to the reading experience.

Most notable, I believe, is the historical section in the book titled “Penguins and People: A 6,000-year-old history.” The author writes in great (and sometimes graphic) detail about mankind’s interactions with the penguin species, most of which are in a negative context. He talks of the exploitation of penguins whether it be from indigenous tribes or from explorers, both hunting the all but defenseless creatures for their skin, feathers, blubber, oil, and yes even meat. Marion also details the exploitation of penguins in modern ages and how humans are affecting their little world by the extraction of guano from breeding grounds, pollution such as oil spills and chemical wastes, and fisheries.

This book was originally published in 1995 but we all know that history does not change. I believe this book is an excellent read for any penguin or history fan. Not only do you get to find out details of the different species & their habitats but also get a glimpse into the dark past between humans and penguin-kind.

The first crosswalk for penguins

What do you do when your penguins and people are having a hard time sharing the road? Why, install a zebra crossing, of course! The staff at Living Coasts in Torquay, Devon, noticed that their African penguins were bumping into visitors on their way to the keeper for feeding time. In response, they had asked the local council to install this crosswalk for the penguins to walk on.

“They live on Penguin Beach but are fed in the public area which means a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing.

“The crossing has been put down to show visitors where the penguins cross the public walkway and to emphasise the need to take care.

– Tony Durkin, Senior Head Keeper at Living Coasts

[via PenguinsLand]

Penguin Collections

I’m not sure if some people who have seen my cubicle at work think I have a lot of penguins in there. I really don’t think so, at least their numbers haven’t grown to 4,000. Wow. That’s a lot of penguins alright. Now I do love a good penguin item but I won’t just buy any old thing with a penguin. Most of my collection sits on a small shelf above my monitor nowadays and I will mostly confine them to that shelf as I honestly cannot have them intruding on my work area. On that shelf, I have all (except for three) of my stuffed toys and some smaller items. I have a long armed, long legged one that hangs from the rear view mirror of Penguino and a Magellanic named Pengi that rides in my laptop backpack. At home, I have a penguin chalk board on my desk and a Piplup stuffed toy sitting under my monitor.

My shelf September 14, 2007.

Does anyone else have a bunch of penguins they have collected? Where do you put them?