Little Penguin Monitoring at Middle Island: 2012-13 Breeding Season

The conservation and monitoring of Little Penguins at Middle Island, off the Warrnambool coast of mainland Victoria, involves a strong partnership between Warrnanmbool Coastcare Landcare Group (WCLG), Warrnambool City Council (WCC) and the community.

coastwatch_21The monitoring program at Middle Island provides critical information about the Little Penguins including estimates of the number of adult penguins occupying the island over their breeding season, as well as the health of the colony including their condition and breeding success. This knowledge has informed the Maremma Guardian Project which has successfully reversed the decline of Little Penguins on the island as a result of fox predation. It has also provided information to other groups such as the Phillip Island Nature Park, to build a picture of the Little Penguin’s status across its south-east Australian range.

For more background information on the project, please click here.

Nature Glenelg Trust is excited to join this partnership, with scientific officer Lauren Kivisalu undertaking the role of Little Penguin Monitoring Coordinator for the 2012/13 season.  To learn more about opportunities to be involved in the Middle Island Little Penguin monitoring project, email Lauren at .

The latest 2012/13 season monitoring results are:

8th October 2012 – 102 penguins counted (population estimate 170)

19th November 2012 – 97 penguins counted (population estimate 162)

17th December 2012 – 93 penguins counted (population estimate 155)

2nd January 2013 – 99 penguins counted (population estimate 165)

14th January 2013 – 112 penguins counted (population estimate 187)

29th January 2013 – 65 penguins counted (population estimate 108)

12th February 2013 – 60 penguins counted (population estimate 100)

26th February 2013 – 21 penguins counted (population estimate 35)

12th March 2013 – 19 penguins counted (population estimate 32)

  • Local Little Penguins – Big International News! 04/07/2013
    It seems the Southern Right Whales are not the only occupants making a splash off the Warrnambool coast this winter! The Middle Island Little Penguin colony and the story of the Maremma Project have made international headlines over the last few weeks. A great opportunity for engaging the public across the Tasman sea came after the New ...
  • End of Season Report for the Middle Island Little Penguin Monitoring Program 2012-13 24/05/2013
    The 2012-13 end of season report was presented this month by Nature Glenelg Trust to the Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group. In summary, the report showed that over the 2012-13 monitoring season, a peak number of 112 adult Little Penguins were observed arriving at the island on the 14th January 2013 during a dusk count, giving an estimated ...
  • Middle Island Penguin Project: End of season gathering a great success 03/05/2013
    The wide-reaching support of the conservation efforts for Middle Island’s Little Penguins was again demonstrated on the afternoon of the 22nd of April. Over 70 people gathered to help celebrate the achievements of Maremma Project and Little Penguin Monitoring Program since the project trial commenced in 2006. Presenters from Warrnambool City Council, Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group ...
  • Getting ‘up-close’ to the guardians of Middle Island’s Little Penguin Colony – Maremma Project Presentation, 21st April. 17/04/2013
    Approaching April, high tides and some welcomed rain marked the end of another breeding season for the Little Penguins at Middle Island. It was also time to air out the life jackets, and wrap up the fortnightly monitoring for another few months while the penguins travel larger distances to source food over winter and frequent ...
  • Ruffling Feathers at Middle Island – The Annual Moult of the Middle Island Little Penguins Begins 20/02/2013
    In recent visits to Middle Island, the dedicated teams of volunteers, and Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare group members have observed another important milestone in the life cycle of the Little Penguin. Roughly around the start of February, the Little Penguin adults begin their annual moult. This process allows the penguins to fully replace their suit of old ...
  • Life on land – a look at the breeding season of the Little Penguins, Middle Island 26/01/2013
    Each year at the start of Spring, the volunteers for the Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group prepare to get their feet wet in the fortnightly journey to Middle Island. Over the months that follow, the team gain important information on the breeding activity of the Little Penguins at Middle Island. During their breeding period, the adult ...
  • Watch and experience the lives of the Little Penguins at Middle Island – over the internet! 26/01/2013
    Live footage of little penguins on Middle island is being streamlined over the internet..world-wide! ‘Wildiaries’ is an organisation with a focus on connecting people with nature – through technology. Wildiaries have developed a social media platform that allows people from all over the globe to share photos, stories and videos of nature and travel. Wildiaries has ...
  • Little Penguin Monitoring Update 10/01/2013
    Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. A quick update on the Little Penguin Monitoring program to start off the new year. We were fortunate enough to have crew from the ABC catalyst TV program along for the day on Monday 17th to film a piece on the Maremma Project and the Little Penguin monitoring. It is a ...
  • Launching the Middle Island Penguin Monitoring Project Page! 23/12/2012
    In some really positive news of the past couple of months, Nature Glenelg Trust is now working in partnership with the Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group (WCLG), with Lauren Kivisalu taking on the role of Penguin Monitoring Co-ordinator for the 2012-13 Season. Lauren has already been involved in the first couple of arrival counts for the season, ...
  • Background Information on Middle Island and the Penguin Monitoring Project 23/12/2012
    Middle Island is a small (approximately 2 ha), rocky island off the Warrnambool coastline, surrounded by the Merri Marine Sanctuary. Recently closed to the general public, the island provides important breeding habitat for a colony of the iconic Little Penguin, Eudyptula minor. The Little Penguin’s breeding season at the island occurs generally from mid-winter and ...

Click here for all project related blog posts.

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