Magellan penguins - by Frankie

Sometimes they try and get a closer look at you

We had rented a car called Bertie in Puerto Madryn. We had just seen the Commerson Dolphins and we jumped in the car, it was a 90 minute journey to Punta Tombo, which is where you see the Magellan penguins.

When we got there, I said “Look, a penguin!” but then we realised we were surrounded by them but we had never noticed it!  

The penguins were black on their backs and white on their tummies and bigger than I thought. They had big fat flippers in the place of their arms, and a small stubby tail.  They have got pink near their eyes, and pinkish black feet.   (select "Read more" below to continue)

They live in pairs in holes that the penguins make by digging with their flippers.  When they came out of their holes it was often a sign that they were going to do a big poooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  daddy missed a cracker poo on his camera so we fired him from his camera duties!!!!

Here's an example of the holes they live in.  You can just see the other one inside

Me trying to look like a penguin

Penguins can't fly even if they try!

This clever scientist penguin came along and he was studying our shoes and then he nibbled them!

Louis must have been glad he wasn't bare-footed!

Louis found a really small one

These two girls who worked there came along and were trying to catch one penguin to do some tests on him. They had some special gear with them to catch penguins.  He wasn't very happy and he ran away as fast as he could and ended up on this little hill with four other penguins, and he hid behind another penguin as If to say "Get him instead, he's fatter, you can do more tests on him!

We saw different coloured labels on the bushes, and under the bushes were nests for penguins to go inside.  The labels meant that people were studying that nest.

I was very curious about these rodents that were called cuis that were everywhere.  They were hopping in and out of bushes and were like wild guinea pigs.

Facts

• The Magellan penguins are between 61cm - 76cm high, and they weigh between 2.7kg and 6.5kg.  The males are bigger than the females. 
• The Magellan penguins are quite fast and can swim up to 15 miles per hour.  This is not as fast as the sea lion or dolphin though which can reach up to 25 miles per hour.
• Magellan penguins eat cuttlefish, sardines, squid, krill and anchovies.The fish have moved further out to sea, because the temperature of the water has changed and the magellan penguins need to swim 25 miles  further away to get their food, but its a risk because they might get eaten by sea lions. It also means that if they are out there too long, the ones waiting might starve. The population of Magellan Penguins has gone down a lot, 20%, in the last 20 years.
• Sadly each year oil spills kill 20,000 baby penguins and 22,000 adult penguins in Argentina.
• Magellan penguins can live to 30 years old in the wild.