African Penguins
While in Cape Town, South Africa a few weeks ago I attended a tour that took us from our waterfront hotel all around the coast of the Cape Peninsula. It was a nice tour that basically ended at a beach called Boulders Beach. Boulders Beach is famous for it's African Penguin colony. Thousands of penguins are here year round and there is a boardwalk that gets you up close and personal with them.
The African Penguin is smaller than most other species standing at 27 inches. Compare that to the popular Emperor Penguin standing at 4 feet tall. In the image above you'll find several penguins returning to the beach after a fishing expedition. They can reach speeds of 20 KPH in the water and dive down to 60 meters for as long as 2.5 minutes.
The penguins do breed in this area so there are literally nests all over the place. I noticed a lot of abandoned eggs as well due to either being infertile or because of predators. Mongoose, birds and other animals prey on the penguin's eggs.
Below you'll find two young chicks beneath their mother.
It's a remarkable place because of how close you can get to these penguins. I literally stood on the boardwalk and looked down over the edge to the sand below (about a foot away) and watched a couple penguins mating. It was even more fascinating to watch as the male laid next to the female and put one of his wings over her as to cuddle afterwards. The African Penguin is indeed monogamous.
An interesting fact: the penguin's coats are white underneath and black on top. That is because it helps camouflage them from predators while in the water. When a predator looks up from under the water at them it blends in with the bright sky and when looking down on them it gets lost in the shadows of the deep water.
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