Featured Image Credit: taringa.net
By Alice Morris
Record numbers of Magellanic penguins have gathered in Punta Tombo, Argentina to feast on booming numbers of small fish around the peninsula, local officials say.
Each year, the world’s largest colony of Magellanic penguins travels to this spot to breed, but this year saw a record-breaking one million individuals pour onto the many small islets around Punta Tombo due to an overabundance of food.
This spot is ideal for them, as it provides lots of space to nest and plenty of sardines and anchovies close to shore.
Tens of thousands of tourists visit the reserve in Punta Tombo annually.
The penguins come ashore in September and October and stay for several months to breed and care for their young. Once the eggs are laid, the males and females will take turns incubating and hunting for food.
Magellanic penguins are not endangered, but many die each year after becoming entangled in commercial fishing nets.
Until the mid-1990s, as many as 40,000 were killed each year by oil spills. Improved efforts to reduce these oil spills have lowered fatality numbers significantly in recent years, but one or two thousand penguins still die every year due to oil spills.