Protecting penguins from high temperatures

A NEW research project is heat-mapping the habitat of Phillip Island’s little penguins to help protect them from the fatal effects of hot weather.

Phillip Island Nature Parks and Latrobe University researchers are creating the heat map to determine the coolest areas to place new burrows and to identify warmer areas where more natural shading from vegetation could be introduced.

Placing 150 loggers at penguin-height across the Summerland Peninsula to record the temperature and humidity across different habitats every 30 minutes, the recordings were taken from January to the end of April, with the entire project expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Little penguins are highly susceptible to heat stress during the moulting season from February to April.

During this time, the little penguins fatten up – almost doubling their body weight – before spending around 17 days in their burrows to undergo a “catastrophic moult” where their bodies heat up further because of the energy required and their increased body fat.

During the 2019 moulting season, hundreds of little penguins died after several days above 35 degrees, despite the Nature Parks’ best efforts to save them.

It was the greatest heat-related loss on record.

“Climate change means we are seeing more extreme weather and more frequent heatwaves, and this becomes an issue for penguins on land during moulting season,” Phillip Island Nature Parks research director, Dr Peter Dann, said.

“As you can imagine, it’s incredibly upsetting to see our little penguins go through such an experience.

“Changing vegetation can impact the ‘micro-climate’ of the penguin breeding area and will provide a refuge for penguins.

“It’s a slow process, with mostly new birds using the new burrows that will be placed in the cooler areas, but we’re confident it will make a difference.”

The heat mapping is the second stage of work to protect the penguins against rising temperatures.

In 2020, as a shorter-term measure, the Nature Parks and Latrobe University installed 50 artificial burrows with different insulation and air flows that were designed to test the micro-climates of the different designs.

The projects have been funded by a $25,000 grant to the Penguin Foundation from the QBE Foundation’s Local Grants Program.

“This project not only raises awareness of the impacts of climate change on a beloved animal but also has the potential to help us better understand how to deal with increased heat stress,” says QBE Foundation co-chair, Jon Fox.

“We’re so pleased to be supporting the Penguin Foundation, who are working to improve the resilience and preparedness of Australia’s penguin wildlife.”

The results of the study and data modelling will be ready later this year.