$3 million penguin centre ditched as WA population plummets

West Australian Environment Minister Reece Whitby has scuttled his government’s plan to build a new $3 million tourist centre on Penguin Island which scientists were concerned would be the death knell for its threatened namesake.

The government had been powering ahead with the project this year after obtaining planning approvals for the centre while the community of Rockingham, which is the closest Perth suburb to the island, protested and lobbied against development.

The population of little penguins in Rockingham, where this photo was taken, is already threatened.

There is an existing centre on the island, where the penguins nest and is open to tourists, which was coming to its end-of-life which had prompted the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions to explore building a new facility.

But the impact of climate change and warming sea temperatures, which affect the little penguins’ food sources and living conditions in the summer, for one of the state’s largest and most northern colonies has seen their population go from more than 2000 birds to about 300 since 2007.

About $250,000 will be spent out of the penguin centre budget to explore building it on the mainland instead.

The island will also be closed or only partially opened when the temperature reaches 35 degrees or higher while the seasonal winter closure will be extended four weeks for a breeding season which has itself been getting longer.

Penguin Island is just off the WA coast from Rockingham.

There will be increased policing of the existing eight knot speed limit around the island, more vegetation rehabilitation and more measures to keep the penguins cool in hot weather.

Previous studies have found more than a quarter of little penguin deaths around Perth are the result of being hit by boat users.

Save Rockingham’s Little Penguins convener Dawn Jecks said the government not going ahead with the new centre on the island was a win for common sense.

“It’s an important tourist attraction and it’s not going to be no good to anybody if there are no penguins left,” she said.

“So we have to get smart about how we protect it ... so future generations can enjoy it.

“The little penguin is our city emblem and we take great pride in that colony.

“We really do need to have a centre on the mainland. That is key.”

Greens MP Brad Pettitt said the project had been in danger of becoming a weird monument to a species in rapid decline whilst ironically contributing to their demise.

“It’s the right move, it’s one that I know the community has been pushing for some time,” he said.

“It’s a good shift and it’s finally a recognition this species is in serious trouble and Penguin Island, if it is going to live up to its name, is going to need much more intensive conservation focus care in coming years.

“They are going to be increasingly under pressure.”

The government has allocated $150,000 towards more research to understand how to protect the colony.