The Thomas Family's Journey Down Under: Phillip Island Part Two

The last part of our trip to Phillip Island was spent waiting very patiently for the infamous Penguin Parade. So along with a couple hundred other people, we made the trek down to the beach to sit and wait for the Little Penguins.

People have been going to Phillip Island to watch the Little Penguins make their way from the sea to their beach burrows for over 80 years. In the 1920’s spectators would sit directly on the beach and the Penguins would walk around them. In 1960 fences and viewing stands were built because spectators were causing damage to the burrows and the habitat. As the Penguin Parade became increasingly popular there was a need to upgrade the stands and build a Visitor’s Centre. The Visitor Centre was built in 1988 and further upgrades were done in 1995 and 2005.

The penguins that inhabit Phillip Island are known as Little Penguins. They are only 12 inches tall and weigh only about 2 pounds therefore making them the smallest species of penguins. They use their flippers to propel them and their tails and feet as rudders to guide them. Their flippers beat up and down 3 times per second when swimming and 5 times a second when chasing prey. They can dive up to 73 metres (240 feet) and can make up to 700 dives in a day as they search for food. They have small feathers that insulate them from cold waters and they secrete a liquid, wax substance from a gland that makes their feathers waterproof. Their feathers are indigo blue on their back and white on their front. This helps camoflage them in the water. They can spend many days in a row at sea searching for food. They need to consume 240 grams of fish a day to maintain their weight. They start their day just before sunrise, when they leave their burrows to head out to sea. Those penguins planning to return home come back to waters near Phillip Island in late afternoon. They gather together in groups called rafts and wait until just after sunset to make their way back to the beach. They will land in a similar place every night and take the same path back to their burrow holes all the while calling out to their chicks if it’s hatching season or calling out to their mates any other time. Their journey to and from the sea is done in the dark to camoflage and protect them from predators.

We chose to sit directly on the sand and not in the observation bleachers. We were also very fortunate to be visiting during hatching season. So about 7:30 we made our way down the boardwalk to claim our spot and wait for the Penguins to show up. Along the way down, we saw massive amounts of burrow holes, most occupied with chicks waiting for their parents return. These amazing creatures did not grace us with their presence until 9:15pm as it is summer here and day- light savings time. I must say as we sat there for almost 2 hours patiently waiting for these little guys, we began to question whether this was really worth the effort, time and money spent. But, as they started to show up, it truly is a remarkable experience. They can come ashore in rafts of 100 plus. We probably saw about 75 penguins come ashore that evening. They would swim in with a wave, try and catch themselves on the beach and then start their little bodies waddling up the beach towards their burrow holes. It would sometimes take several waves for them to final wash ashore to the beach. Once on shore, they waddled their way to their burrows, some traveling about a half a mile to their burrow holes. As they waddled along they were calling out to their mates and chicks. Upon hearing their calls, their chicks made their way out of their homes to greet their parents and wait to be fed by regurgitation.

We watch the Penguins swim ashore for about 30 minutes then we made our way along the boardwalk to watch them waddle to their homes, call to their families and feed their chicks. I think we enjoyed this part the most. It was amazing to think that after several days out at sea swimming non-stop and searching for food that they had the energy to waddle all the way back to their burrow holes.

As we were walking back to the car talking of our experience, we were repeatedly reminded by signs to check under our cars for penguins and to be careful driving on the road because they may be crossing.