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The penguins of Punta Tombo, 28 years later

ByJohn Yunker

Punta Tombo, which is located on the Patagonian coast of Argentina, is home to the world’s largest Magellanic penguin colony. Dee Boersma and her team of naturalists have been studying these penguins for 28 years. Back when she began, the Japanese were planning to harvest the penguins for their fur for women’s gloves. Fortunately Dee…

African penguins on the brink

ByJohn Yunker

African penguins have been “promoted” from vulnerable to endangered species. According to this article, “The colonies around our coast have shrunk to dangerously small numbers,” said Ross Wanless, Seabird Division Manager for BirdLife South Africa. “Now the colonies are very vulnerable to small-scale events, such as bad weather, seal predation or seagulls taking eggs. In…

Perhaps it’s not a question of why Knut died, but why he lived so long

ByJohn Yunker

So now the questions begin: What caused the death of the celebrity polar bear Knut? Early indications point to some form of brain disease. Environmentalists say Knut was overly stressed. Zoo officials deny this, of course. But when I look at the photo of the polar bear above, I think the question should be: Why…

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Sometimes the only evidence of an oil spill are its victims

ByJohn Yunker

More than 200 oil-soaked Magellanic penguins washed ashore in Southern Argentina two weeks ago. No oil spill was reported. But the penguins are proof enough. At least 11 penguins have died. But we’re talking about hundreds of miles of coastline, much of it uninhabited. It’s impossible to know exactly how many penguins were affected. All naturalists…