The African Penguin Colony in Cape Town

To be well prepare for the big show, let's give you some information on the lovely creatures.

The African Penguin is the only penguin which is breeding in Africa and these breeding aquatic birds are only to be found in Namibia and South Africa between Hollamsbird Island off the Namibian Coast and Bird Island in Algoa Bay, near Port Elizabeth. Non-breading penguins have been recorded from Southern Angola down to KwaZulu Natal in South Africa.

The Boulders Beach Penguin Colony

The colony recorded their first pair of breeding penguins in 1985; from then on the colony has grown constantly and now consists of roughly 3000 penguins.

But you can also watch the little creatures from the new raised pathway which stretches between the information center and the beach.

The African Penguin: Easy Facts

• Latin name: spheniscus demersus which derives its name from spen: greek “wedge” and refers to their wedge-like shape when swimming. demersus: latin plunging

They are a threatened species, actually classified as vulnerable, as only 10% of their original population still exist. Now the worldwide population consists of only 179,000 of the aquatic birds.

As you can see clearly in my photo adult penguins have black backs, a white face and a black band across the breast. Young birds have a blue-grey back, no white face and no black band across the breast and occasionally little black spots on the white belly.

In Boulders Beach you can watch theses cute creatures waddle to and fro. It is a lot of fun to watch them as they walk very clumsily, but they are very skillful swimmers which you will notice too.

They are mainly feeding on sardines/pilchards, anchovies, squid, crustaceans. When they are hunting, they can reach speed up to 20km/h and often dive up to 30m deep.

African Penguins: Life Cycle

The penguins nest throughout the year, the peak breeding season at Boulders is from March to May. They are nesting in burrows or under boulders or bushes.

Marine animals preying on African penguins are Cape fur seals, which we witnessed from the beach too, and occasionally sharks and whales further at sea.

As African Penguins are monogamous, the penguin pair stays together usually for many years and often move back to their old nesting sites too.

When the little chicks are 2-4 months old, they fledge. They loose their fluff and get their blue-grey feathers. Then they leave the parents and after 12 to 22 months usually come back to their natal colony. There they will moult to get their adult feathers.

The annual moulting season in Boulders is from November until February. Then you will see the pitty state of these otherwise pretty birds. They shed their feathers and look quite naked at some parts. The moult takes around 20 days.

During this time they often loose half of their weight too. Luckily they will have stored some extra reserves of food during the prior months. The moulting penguins can not go to sea until the new feathers have come out fully, as the air insulation helps the penguins to retain their temperature.

Get active: Educational Tours at Sanccob

They have got educational tours at Blouberg and are happy to show you around. They even have a adopt a penguin program, so if you want to make a different present or gift how about adopting a little penguin? More info here.

Watch this great movie: City Slickers

The film by award winning wildlife film maker Trevor de Kock is called City Slickers and tells about the adventures of Henry and Margot two of the Boulders Colony’s penguins.

The story concentrates on the lives of these aquatic birds in and around Boulders Beach. It is well-worth to watch the 53 minutes of wildlife documentary.

I am sure, not only your children will love the pictures. The movieIt is available at bookstores and directly at Pelican Pictures.

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