'The Penguins of Boulders' by Dirk Schmidt — a Book Review

The Penguins of Boulders is a book all about the African pen­guin.  Despite being one of the most cha­ris­matic anim­als on our planet, it is a spe­cies in peril suf­fer­ing from rapid envir­on­mental degrad­a­tion through oil and chem­ical spillages and the deple­tion of inshore fish stocks as its primary food source.

About the Book

The African pen­guin is an indic­ator spe­cies for envir­on­mental health and biod­iversity. This book not only high­lights some of the envir­on­mental pres­sures these anim­als face, but also illus­trates and describes inter­est­ing pen­guins facts, ref­er­ence inform­a­tion on the spe­cies, but also vari­ous con­ser­va­tion and ongo­ing res­cue operations.

The book is aimed at a wide audi­ence from young adults, adult read­ers, bird enthu­si­asts, and tour­ists that visit the Penguin colony of Boulders or have an interest in pen­guins. Continued

To boldly go... why swimming with the penguins at Boulders is so great

Penguins at Boulders

Nothing quite beats the thrill of swim­ming at Boulders beach with the pen­guins. Admittedly Sunday's rather busy rash of vis­it­ors to the pop­u­lar but small beach meant that only one little black and white res­id­ent was bold enough to brave the crowds in the main cove of Boulders. But ven­ture a little fur­ther, through the 'crack in the wall', and there are pen­guins galore that are quite happy to share their space, provided you main­tain a respect­able distance.

It's just as well that Boulders is a pay­ing beach or it would be inund­ated. Even though it now costs R35 an adult and R10 a child, the beach is still one of the most pop­u­lar swim­ming beaches on the False Bay Coast for people with chil­dren, as it's without fail sheltered from the wind, and vir­tu­ally always a calm pond-like swim­ming exper­i­ence for bathers ... Continued

Watch the Penguins Play

Watch Penguins Play

Things in life aren't always black and white... except for the African Penguin. Of course things that are black and white leave little room for indi­vidu­al­ity... except for the African Penguin whose spe­cific mono­chro­matic mark­ings are so unique that they per­son­al­ise the birds like fin­ger­prints on humans.

What may seem like con­ser­vat­ive tuxedo col­our­ing is in fact com­plex cam­ou­flage ensur­ing that when swim­ming the penguin's black back blends with the ocean to pred­at­ors aflight and that the penguin's white belly reflects like sun­light to pred­at­ors lurk­ing the deep. These Black-footed Penguins also known as Jackass Penguins, due to their don­key like bray, breed only in Africa. Stony Point Breeding Colony is one of only two South African breed­ing colon­ies that are shore-based ... Continued