The African penguin is predicted to be extinct in the wild by 2035 as its numbers have declined by 99% over the past 120 years.
To highlight the impermanence of the species, NPO Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) and BirdLife South Africa commissioned a sand art installation at Big Bay beach near Blouberg in Cape Town to mark World Seabird Day, which was celebrated on Wednesday.
The art serves as a stark reminder that while these beautiful creatures may be with us today, they could be gone tomorrow. In the days it took ‘Super Sandman’ Innocent Zungu to create the installation, the sand penguins were vandalised three times by unruly revellers on the beach.
“The penguins are made out of sand to symbolise that they are disappearing. They’re here today, gone tomorrow unless we do something about it. These sand sculptures will slowly be eroded by the sea showing how fragile the penguin population is,” says Sanccob’s Dr David Roberts.
According to Penguin Alert, marine environments are difficult to monitor and are under severe threat from invisible forces such as overfishing, alien species invasion, pollutants, and climate change.
On its website, the organisation says that if left unchecked, we risk the extinction of several marine animals and ecosystem collapse, with direct impacts on human livelihoods – from conservation to tourism.
“Seabirds make good marine indicators and it is not only African penguins that are threatened. Population declines are also evident in the Cape gannet (48% in 50 years), Cape cormorant (>50% in 28 years) and bank cormorant (62.8% in 22.5 years).”
African penguins are specialised hunters, targeting only certain prey. After foraging at sea during the breeding season, they return to land to incubate their eggs and raise their chicks, making them ideal monitoring species and excellent indicators of marine ecosystem health.
“By focusing on penguins as indicators of their ecosystem, we can respond to changing conditions and assist the authorities in the sustainable management of our oceans,” says Penguin Alert.
Found mostly in South Africa, and classified as endangered since 2010, African penguin survival is directly linked to the availability of their main food source.
“They eat small forage fish, mainly anchovy and sardine, which are targeted by many marine predators living in the Benguela ecosystem.”
Watch live:
Stony Point in Betty’s Bay is home to one of the largest African penguin colonies and one of only two land-based colonies.
Watch footage from the live penguin camera here:
