Today me and my brother went to Waitangi and found some Penguin houses near a beach. Little Blue Penguins/ Korora are the world’s smallest penguin at 25cm high. They can dive to a depth of 70 metres. They spend most of the day fishing at sea, coming ashore at dusk to roost. They are native to New Zealand and can be found in waters all around the coast. They need to stay on land when they moult and to take care of their babies. They nest in burrows along or near the coast. Often they return to the same nest site year after year. They can live for 20 years but their average life span is around six years.
Little Blue Penguins eat small fish, squid and crustaceans. Natural predators include seals, sharks and sea lions. Set nets, loss of coastal habitat and pests on land can also threaten Little Blue Penguins.
We can protect penguins by making sure we put our litter in a bin, by keeping dogs, cats and humans away from places they may nest. By setting traps close to their homes to catch Rats, Stoats and Wild cats.
We spent time watching the sea for signs of Little Blue Penguins but didn’t see any. We will keep looking when we are at the coast as our Mum has seen them zooming through the water close to the land and watched them lying on the sea from boats out in the Bay of Islands.
Written by Olivia, who is eight years old and lives in Paihia. She loves spending time outdoors in nature, going for walks and learning about the animals and plants I find.
