Penneshaw penguin colony could be disrupted by SA government seawall works

Animal groups have slammed the state government after rocks used for a seawall repair were dumped onto penguin burrows potentially burying chicks alive.

Kangaroo Island penguins may have been disrupted by works near their habitat. Picture: Dan Clarke

There are fears penguins at Penneshaw have lost their homes after rocks for a seawall were dumped around their burrows on Kangaroo Island.

Animal groups have described any danger posed to the animals as “heartbreaking”.

An excavator full of rocks arrived to repair a rock wall on Saturday night.

Katie Welz from the KI Wildlife Network said it was important to protect the island’s wildlife.

“100 per cent of why people come to Kangaroo Island is wildlife and to be flippant about the needs of vulnerable species, it’s quite disgusting and it’s heartbreaking and it’s preventable,” she said.

Penguins burrow and breed in areas around Penneshaw beach. Picture: Supplied

Penneshaw Penguin Centre owner Renee Daniell said the area is home to “one of the largest colonies on the island” and the timing of the works could have detrimental consequences for the penguin population there.

“The area is full of penguins and they’ve just gone and dumped truckloads worth of rocks on top of it … for sure there’d probably be a couple burrows in there.

“There’s penguin burrows all through the area.

“Where they were putting excavators full of rocks (on Saturday night) was 20 metres away from penguin chicks.

A seawall is being repaired. Picture: Dan Clarke

“We’re not going to know if any penguins were hurt, they’re now under a pile of rocks.”

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Emily Bourke said the State Government was undertaking work to repair the rock wall next to the marshalling area at the ferry terminal in Penneshaw following storm damage earlier this year.

“This work is necessary to ensure the structural integrity of the car park area,” she said. Works have commenced for the Penneshaw Harbour Precinct.
Dan Clarke, who provided images to The Advertiser, said the shots were taken at Hogs Point, where the colony lives.

Ms Daniell said incidents like this cannot only hurt the birds in the short term but also lead to long term consequences.

There are concerns it is affecting the vulnerable penguin nesting area. Picture: Dan Clarke

Animal groups have expressed anger over the disruption to penguin life. Picture: Dan Clarke

“If they feel threatened they will find a home elsewhere and stop using those burrows for breeding, which is what we don’t want to see.

“We want to see continuation in the growth of our penguin numbers.

“Adult penguins can (also) abandon their chicks that are up there because it does not seem safe to be able to go back and feed them.”

She urged the government to stop work until February when the penguins were out at sea and there was a smaller likelihood of interrupting parents feeding their chicks.

“Penguins have got enough going on at the moment with things like algal bloom, now we’ve gone and caused major disruptions to an area where they were in,” she said.

“Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be monitoring things to see if we can see any obvious signs of penguin distress.”

“I hope from today they won’t be operating their machines around active penguin burrows.”

Ms Welz also hoped work would stop during breeding season.

“I’m sure it’s absolutely inconvenient but that’s too bad,” she said.

Originally published as Penneshaw penguin colony could be disrupted by SA government seawall works