Media Release – National Aquarium of New Zealand
For immediate release
1 November 2012
Little Penguins make big splash at National Aquarium
The National Aquarium will celebrate months of ‘behind the scenes’ work this week when it opens its latest exhibit,
Penguin Cove, on Saturday (3 November 2012).
The newest residents of the Aquarium recently made the journey from nearby Marineland to their new home and have settled
into their new life-like surroundings very quickly.
Penguin Cove has been carefully designed to replicate the penguins’ natural beach habitat to ensure they feel right at
home in their new abode.
Walk into the new exhibit and see a sandy beach, made up of 28 tonnes of golden sand donated by Winstone Aggregates.
Driftwood, rocks and a swimming pool with underwater viewing complete the exhibit – everything that allows the 10
penguins to go about their normal routine of fishing and feeding during the day, then returning to the beach for play
and sleep at night.
“Be prepared to learn lots of interesting facts when you visit Penguin Cove,” says National Aquarium of New Zealand
Manager Rob Yarrall.
“There will be talks by our penguin keepers three times a day, including a feeding time. This will be a chance for our
staff to share information about how close Little Penguins live to us and how we can all help with their declining
numbers by doing a few simple things,” says Rob.
The Aquarium will be working closely with Department of Conservation (DOC) to share these messages, such as encouraging
dog owners to keep their pets on leads at the beach and to contact DOC if members of the public ever find a Little
Penguin that they are concerned about.
“Our Little Penguins will be great ambassadors for their species in the wild. People can come and look at them and get
to know all about them,” says Rob.
Eventually Penguin Cove could happily house up to as many as 20 penguins, double the current number.
Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott says it’s great to have this new exhibit ready for locals and visitors to enjoy this summer
and in years to come.
“It’s such a positive addition to the Aquarium, not only enhancing the visitor experience, but also adding to the vision
of creating a Kids’ Capital along Marine Parade.”
ENDS