Whiteblack and Nat visited Penguin Island in the Shoals Islands National Marine Park in Perth, Western Australia. There they found a colony for Little Blue Penguins (Eudyptula minor). This is the hottest time of year here — it’s been 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) — and the Little Blues are molting (losing their feathers). It takes two to three weeks to molt, and they don’t swim as long as they’re molting. This can be stressful as Little Blues are used to spending the day swimming and feeding. They drink sea water and have built in desalinization systems, sneezing out the salt. Little Blues are also the smallest of all penguins and are also known as Fairy Penguins. Whiteblack had a nice chance to visit with Little Blues, both under shaded boardwalks and bushes, and at the Visitor Center where penguins who cannot live in the wild have their own pool and are taken care of.
