Did you catch Penguin Island, that interesting documentary about the penguins of Phillip Island on the BBC a couple of years back? Good news if you didn’t – it’s being re-aired on BBC2 and iPlayer.
The series follows one the world’s largest colonies of Little Penguins as they search for love, go through the trials and tribulations of raising a family and struggle to survive a scorching summer.
Little Penguins are the smallest of the planet’s 17 species. Like several other penguin species, many of their mating rituals and family behaviours appear human like, which probably goes a long way to explaining why we find them so fascinating. That, and they walk funny!
But you don’t need rely on the work of a natural history camera crew to see these adorable fellows up close. Phillip Island is one of the few places in the world where the ordinary person can easily see them in their natural habitat.
Each evening at sunset, in what locals call the “Penguin Parade”, dozens of Little Penguins waddle up Summerland Beach to the safety of their homes in the sand dunes that back it.
You get great, uninterrupted views of them coming ashore from elevated and tiered seating. And it’s possible to see them around their burrows from elevated timber boardwalks too.
A portion of the ticket price goes to supporting the conservation of the colony. Learn a little more about them and the parade with the video below.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
(Image: Ken and Nyetta)
