Help the Penguin Project

Because of your generous donations, we have been able to track penguins for over 25 years. Having long-term information about the lives of penguins enables us to help them as illustrated in the below examples.  Penguin lives are similar to our own: they mate, raise offspring, and have individual personalities.  

Penguin Population in Decline. 

Since 1987 the Magellanic Penguin population at Punta Tombo, located in the Chubut Province of Argentina, has declined by 23%.  For over two decades, the Penguin Project has painstakingly collected detailed data not simply to document the penguin population decline (although that is critical), but to develop science-based solutions to ensure the peaceful coexistence between penguins and humans.

Fishing. The project is collecting data on the opening and closing of fisheries to determine how it affects the growth rate of chicks.  Based on knowledge of penguin breeding cycles provided by the Project, the Chubut Province delayed fishing near the colony by an extra month to provide enough time for penguins to raise their young.

Oil Dumping.  In the early 1980s approximately 60% of penguins found dead on the beaches in Chubut Province were covered in petroleum from oil tankers illegally dumping ballast water.  The Penguin Project helped document the extent and severity of the problem, and as a result, the Province moved shipping lanes farther off shore.  Now fewer than five percent of penguins found dead on the beach are covered in oil.

Tourism.  Close encounters with increasing numbers of tourists pose a serious risk to penguins.  Closing the road to vehicles and building trails for tourists has helped restrict and reduce visitor impacts at Punta Tombo.  The Penguin Project also helped local stakeholders get the Punta Tombo Management Plan adopted by the Province of Chubut.

Climate. As a result of climate change and ocean variability, penguins now have to travel further to find prey.  Swimming further means their mates left at the nest must fast longer increasing the chances that the mates will abandon the nests and chicks will die of starvation.

Educating the Next Generation.  Hundreds of volunteers and students have been part of the massive data collection at Punta Tombo.  Many now hold influential positions in both Argentina and the U.S., including Vice President of National Parks in Argentina, Director of Birdlife Argentina, and Director of Conservation and Science at the Packard Foundation in California.