The humble Humbolt

Hi Sea Fans!

I saw coral babies, copepods, fish babies and more at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, but I couldn't leave before saying hi to the Humboldt penguins.  We have the African Penguin in South Africa (seriously endangered!) which makes a honking sound that has earned it the name JACKASS penguin :)

The Humboldts are just as noisy!!

https://youtu.be/zbipSRks_N4?t=5

These guys are VULNERABLE because of habitat loss, overfishing, invasive species and indsutrial development.  The CZA has 12 penguins that are all a part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Humboldt penguins.

Since joining the SSP in 1996, the zoo has had a total of 28 chicks and raised 26 of them! (2 eggs were shipped to other zoos - don't want to keep all the eggs in the same basket ;))

I was just about to leave when Dan called me over and asked if I could help him.

The manatee exhibit needs to be cleaned every day (scrub the rockwork, clean the algae off the acrylic window, clear the drains) so I played a bit of "spot the dot on the window" for Dan whilst he cleaned them.

So that was my visit to CZA, thanks so much to all the staff, especially Mallory for showing me around.

Hope you enjoyed that Sea Fans!  There's more to come.
Have a great week.
Chat soon
Abby
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