Click photo to enlarge
A group of penguins seek shelter under a bush at the Oamaru
Creek penguin refuge. Photo by Lorraine Adams.
"People just everywhere" in the Oamaru Harbour area at
night are causing problems for the resident blue penguin
population, environmentalist Lorraine Adams says.
Some nights over the summer, it had been "total madness",
with problems occurring because there was no control over
people leaving the blue penguin colony, she said.
As they left the colony, there were "people just everywhere"
and many did not realise there were penguins all around the
harbour area.
She received a letter from English tourist Libby
Howard-Blood, who visited Oamaru last month, saying how upset
she was with the "tourist invasion" of the penguins' home.
She was saddened to see tourists photographing the birds
"within a few feet" of them, blocking their path from the sea
to their chicks and "generally being unaware of how to
behave".
Ms Howard-Blood suggested a warden patrol the area and she
also suggested the car park be shifted so people had to walk
in.
Miss Adams believed there were simple solutions, including
providing more information for visitors, bold "penguin
crossing" signs at night and removing vehicles from the area.
It was getting worse each year, she said.
When contacted, Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony manager Jason
Gaskill said Miss Adams was welcome to discuss her concerns
with him.
