Galapagos Penguins
Spheniscus mendiculus
1. Food Chain and Habitat
- they are carnivores and eat only fish that they find/hunt in the ocean (all sources)
- their predators include crabs, snakes, owls, hawks, sharks, fur seals, sea lions, cats, dogs, and rats (eoe)
- they live on the Galapagos Islands, mainly the Fernandina and Isabel, in South America (pm)
- they live in temperate climates in which the climate is between 15 and 28 degrees Celsius (59-82 degrees Fahrenheit) (ewa and wiki)
- their location is a rocky and sandy terrain (eoe)
- they live in nests and burrows (ee)
2. Description
- they are classified as a type of bird (book)
- their bodies are covered by skin that is black and white (eoe)
- their height is 40-45 centimeters and weight is 1.6-2.5 kilograms (mb)
- their body length is 50-53 cm (km)
- the communicate through vocal calls and verbal calls (squawks and body movements) (ewa)
- an unusual characteristics is that they do not follow a specific annual breeding season like all other penguins do (eoe)
3. Adaptation
- they go in the water to cool off from the heat (wiki)
- Also, they can lose heat from skin on their feet and underparts of their flippers (wiki)
- they protect their feet from the sun by hunching over (wiki)
- their calling sounds are squawks and braying sounds (like a donkey) (ewa)
- their behavior includes them turning to the lighter side, away from the sun, panting, hopping into water, and hunching over their feet (eoe)
- their flippers are good from swimming and losing heat (wiki)
- they usually hunt in small groups, occasionally large (eoe)
4. Reasons for Endangerment
- the El Nino weather patterns cause food shortages and provide the ocean with poor water nutrients which harm the fish they eat (km)
- also oil spills harm them through the water (km)
- some penguins get caught in fishing nets and are hurt, some even die (km and ee)
- many are killed by predators and natural hazards (ee)
5. Critical Information
- make sure no one is fishing around penguin grounds (it's illegal anyways!)
- stop oil spills in the ocean, not only harming penguins but many other marine creatures
- El Nino, predators, and natural hazards are the only uncontrollable problems but other man made problems, we can help stop
- donate to funds to save them from endangerment, such as GCT (Galapagos Conservation Trust) (eoe)