Tiny penguin rescued in Victoria after gruelling trans-Tasman journey

A hungry and exhausted crested penguin swam ashore at Ninety Mile Beach at Lake Bunga, near Lakes Entrance, on Thursday – more than 1800 kilometres from home.

After a gruelling swim and lonely night ashore, the penguin – believed to be a Fiordland – survived attempted attacks by a shark and a hungry fox before wildlife rescuers picked it up at the Victorian beach on Friday morning.

Listed as vulnerable, Fiordland penguins breed on the south-western coast of New Zealand’s South Island, on the other side of the treacherous Tasman Sea.

Wildlife carer Nikki Jordan said a member of the public reported seeing “what looked like a very exhausted old penguin” on Thursday night.

The penguin had a number of lucky escapes during its time on Ninety Mile Beach.

“By the time I got there, though, it was dark, and I could not find him anywhere,” Jordan said.

“My shelter messaged me and said that they’d had another report from a fisherman [who’d] seen the little penguin actually get flipped by a shark. So of course, I went into panic mode.”

Jordan spent hours in the dark searching the sand dunes of Lake Bunga before returning home at midnight. By daybreak, she was back searching the beach.

“The thought of him being out there scared and injured – even if I couldn’t find him, I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try, so I went back this morning, and I was lucky enough to see another fisherman,” she said.

“[The fisherman] was sitting there, and he said that he had, not long ago, chased off a fox that was attacking it. So I found him [the penguin], and he didn’t even fight me, the poor little thing. And I just picked him up in a towel.”

Jordan passed the penguin to another registered wildlife rescuer, Lynne Amore, who drove from Bairnsdale to Melbourne on Friday morning with the airconditioning running in her car to keep the penguin cool.

“It’s definitely exhausted,” Amore said. “It’s hard to tell if it’s underweight as their dense feathers can hide that ... But we’re not handling it at this stage to reduce stress.”

Amore said the penguin is roughly 50 centimetres tall, about twice the size of a fairy penguin.

Crested penguins mostly breed in NZ and surrounding islands in the subantarctic.

Amore and her partner will take the penguin – believed to be a juvenile – to Melbourne Zoo for assessment by its marine response unit on Friday. Veterinarians will then confirm what species it is.

Fiordland penguins have been discovered in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria in the past two years, which experts say is a sign of tough feeding conditions.

Jordan said the episode also highlighted the shortage of wildlife carers in East Gippsland.

“There are so few rescuers and carers that the animals are suffering,” she said. “And we are at our limits, and it’s getting worse.”

If you see an animal that you believe needs assistance, call Wildlife Victoria on 03 8400 7300, Sydney Wildlife on 02 9413 4300.

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