There is a stretch of land along the southernmost coast of the Southern Island of New Zealand known as Curio Bay. I visited about five years ago in search of the Hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin (seen above). And here, at long last, is a story that emerged from that visit, published in Kelp Journal. Thanks … Read more
This from a sobering research report published last week by some of the world’s leading experts on penguins. The report notes that “more than half of the world’s 18 penguin species are declining.” The three species most in danger are: African penguin Galápagos penguin Yellow-eyed penguin (seen below in New Zealand) The report notes that … Read more
The cover of the first edition of The Tourist Trail features a landscape photograph of the Magellanic penguin colony along the shores of Argentina, the precise location where the book begins. It was a photograph I had taken and I thought it would make a nice cover. And it did, but it didn’t make a … Read more
The Tourist Trail takes place on the site of the world’s largest Magellanic penguin colony and, though the book is fiction, the colony is very much real. It is located on the coast of Punta Tombo, Argentina. And this coastal region has long been heavily fished, which means penguins have for decades been caught up in … Read more
We all know or should know by now that polar bears are suffering from reduced ice up north. But few people know about what’s happening to penguins down south. If you have a spare 10 minutes, listen to this interview with Dee Boersma on her recent study about Magellanic Penguins in Punta Tombo, Argentina. I … Read more
A recent study reported on in the New York Times found that 400,000 seabirds are getting killed each year by gillnets — those long nets used by fishing vessels. And you can add roughly 160,000 additional seabirds that are hooked by longlines. In short, modern fishing practices are destroying the oceans and its creatures. From … Read more