Oil from the Rena continues to float on the sea and finish on the beaches around Tauranga. Many penguin eggs will not hatch this spring because wildlife rescue workers are saving the adult penguins instead. Wildlife workers are checking penguin nests. When they find adult penguins covered in oil, they take the penguins away to clean them. Sometimes this means the eggs will get cold and the chick inside the egg will die.
Workers tried giving the eggs to another pair of adult penguins but these penguins would not sit on the eggs.
For wildlife workers, it is a hard decision to make – do they save the parents or the eggs? Most baby penguins die in the first two years of life, even in normal times, but adult penguins usually live many years. They can lay more eggs next year.
These are little blue penguins. Around the Bay of Plenty there are about 200 to 300 pairs of penguins sitting on eggs at the moment. However many penguins have oil on their feathers and many have died.
Questions
What do you know about little blue penguins? Where do they live? How big are they? How long do they live? Why do baby penguins die in the first two years? How many eggs do adult penguins lay?
Find out all you can about little blue penguins.