Big cash dreams for St Kilda’s little penguins
MELBOURNE’S only colony of little penguins could be better protected if an environmental group can snare cash for more surveillance.
Inner South
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MONITORING of Melbourne’s only little penguin colony could go hi-tech if an environmental group can snare more cash.
Up to 110,000 tourists flock to St Kilda Pier every year to see the nightly penguin parade, with the colony now numbering about 1400 in 312 nests.
Earthcare St Kilda are seeking $10,000 from Port Phillip Council to develop a smartphone app enabling volunteers to control the ballooning crowds, and keep tabs on the growing colony.
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Earthcare spokeswoman Flossy Sperring told the Leader the app would also help the non-profit group better manage and inform the tourists who inundate the pier to visit the colony.
“The St Kilda colony has remained relatively unheard of in the past but ... we’re getting more and more visitors and the increasing pressure could on (the penguins) could really be a problem for reproductive success and getting entanglement from fishing line and litter pollution in the nests,” she said.
Ms Sperring said penguin guides were finding it harder to manage the ballooning crowds.
“Communication is key, so the app is going to be designed in such a way that we can communicate with people and really stress the way they need to act when they’re in the colony,” she said.
Penguin research and monitoring would also improve with the app, Ms Sperring said, with less room for human error.
“An electronic app ... will increase the accuracy and efficiency of the research as well as improving the management of injured penguins,” she said.
In her submission to the council for $10,000 from the 2018/19 budget, Ms Sperring wrote that a survey of pier visitors found only 25 per cent went online to find information about the colony, but 50 per cent would download an app.
The app would be available in multiple languages, record GPS locations of penguins and keep track of individual penguin histories, including any injuries.
Ms Sperring said the investment was “crucial for protection of the colony”.
Find more information about St Kilda’s little penguin colony here.
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