Dann’s the man when it comes to Little Penguins

MARINE biologist Dr Peter Dann has been credited with bringing Phillip Island’s Little Penguins back from the brink.

Now after 42 years as the man in charge of the welfare of the Island’s famous penguin colony, he’s set to retire as one of the key people involved in building penguin numbers up from near extinction to the biggest Little Penguin colony in the world.

It’s been no mean feat and involved many ground-breaking conservation initiatives over many years.

Speaking to Mahnaz Angury on ABC Radio recently, Dr Dann said he was delighted with the progress that has been made, quadrupling the size of the colony in the time he’s been part of Phillip Island Nature Parks.

“I know people who don’t like Christmas and cats, but I've never met anyone that doesn't like penguins. So, I think they're just a very charismatic form of wildlife,” Dr Dann said.

“Honestly, I don't think the colony can get much bigger than this,” he said of the 40,000 birds that nest in the dunes of the Summerland Peninsula.

The efforts made to support the Island’s penguins have been many and varied from building nesting boxes and eradicating foxes to buying back the holiday houses in the former Summerland Housing Estate that used to surround the penguins.

“The removal of a coastal village from the middle of the penguin colony, which is the first time, I think it's the only time it's been done in the world for conservation purposes,” said Dr Dann.

When Dr Dann began working on Phillip Island in the early 1980s, Little Penguins were close to extinction. Now more than four decades later, the island is home to the largest colony of penguins in the world.

He’s a world authority on Little Penguins but his skills and experience won’t be lost to the service, with members of the Nature Parks’ team ready to carry the torch for the local community and the 700,000-plus visitors who come to see the amazing Phillip Island Penguin Parade every year.

It's a sight he says he will never get tired of seeing first-hand.

And thanks to the work of Dr Dann, over the years, and the initiatives of the Phillip Island Nature Parks, generations more will be able to see this wonder of nature up close at the Island, every night at dusk.