South American Penguin Promises

Dear PenguinPromises
>
> We had some really heavy rain shortly after writing to you last time. It was
> a difficult job for Promises keeping the chicks dry in the nest during the rain.
> Some of the nests in the colony were abandoned because of the rain running into
> the nests. This is the second year in succession that we have had heavy rain
> at this vulnerable time of year.
>
> The chicks are very fragile when they are little, and Promises must take extra
> care to keep them warm and dry at that age. Thankfully the chicks have grown
> a lot since then. They are now almost as big as Promises, but still have a long
> way to go before they will be ready to leave the nest and begin life on their
> own. I attach a photo of the chicks.
>
> As you can see in the photo the chicks are not only growing fast, but they are
> also now exploring outside of the nest. They even go around to visit chicks in
> other nests during the day. That is actually good for Promises, because now that
> the chicks have got to an age where their demand for food is greater, both adults
> must go to sea to catch fish. The chicks are left alone during the day, and it
> is safer for them in groups.
>
> The parents have no choice but to both go to sea each day. If they didn't the
> chicks would go hungry. The chicks are at risk, but they have to be fed. It is
> part of nature being a penguin. Penguins don't have school or day care facilities
> for the youngsters. Neither do they have social structures that allow grandparents,
> friends or baby-sitters to look after the chicks.
>
> When the chicks are little they do not eat very much. So one parent is able to
> catch enough food for the chicks, whilst the other one stays at home in the nest
> to look after the chicks. The parents take turns going to sea, alternating each
> day. However as time goes by the chicks get bigger, and as they get bigger they
> need more and more food.
>
> Eventually it is impossible for just one parent to catch enough food to keep
> the chicks fed. From then on the only thing the parents can do to keep the chicks
> well fed and healthy, is for them to both go to sea each day to catch food. Even
> with both parents catching fish each day, it is still difficult keeping up with
> the chicks' ever increasing appetite.
>
> It is summer here, and because the colony is situated closer to the South Pole
> the days here are very long in summer. It gets light at about 4 o'clock in the
> morning, and so that is when the parents get up and set off for work. The chicks
> are still sleeping when the adults leave, and probably don't even realize that
> the parents have gone until later in the morning.
>
> If the fishing is good, then Promises can be back home with the chicks by late
> afternoon. That means the chicks can be fed, and still leave time for Promises
> to groom the chicks to keep them clean and free of parasites, like ticks and
> fleas. It is important to spend time grooming the chicks. If the parasites are
> not controlled they can multiply very quickly, sucking the chicks' blood to the
> point where they can cause anemia or disease.
>
> The shoals of fish do not remain in the same place. They move around and have
> to be relocated each day. Some days it can be harder for Promises to catch the
> fish. Sometimes the fish shoals take longer to locate, or the fish can be more
> spread out and harder to catch. If that is the case the parents don't get home
> until later in the evening, and have less time to spend with the chicks. However
> the fishing is usually good here, and Promises can usually get home reasonably
> early.
>
> The British government (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) published
> an article in their Darwin Initiative newsletter during December 2019, praising
> our penguin adoption program. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural
> Affairs funded our penguin research from 1999 to 2004, through their Darwin Initiative
> Program.
>
> The Darwin Initiative is a program in which the British government sponsors British
> citizens working in third world countries, with projects that help to protect
> biodiversity and the natural environment. The funding is of limited duration,
> and gives priority to long-term projects that aim to establish alternative means
> of funding. This seed funding from the British government enabled us to establish
> the penguin adoption program which now funds all our work. You can see this publication
> at
>
> https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/assets/uploads/Darwin-Newsletter-December-2019-Traditional-Culture-Conservation-FINAL.pdf
>
> In view of this I thought you might be interested to know how our adoption program
> got started.
>
> In 1993 I was appointed Conservation Officer for the Falkland Islands. The Falklands
> is an Overseas Territory of Britain. They are self-governing and have their own
> laws. Britain only has any say over defense and foreign affairs. I was employed
> by the Falkland Islands Government, not the British government.
>
> As Conservation Officer I was in charge of all wildlife conservation matters,
> and protecting the Falklands' very large penguin population was a major part
> of my work. I immediately began hearing alarming stories from land-owners of
> massive penguin population declines since the establishment of commercial fishing
> in 1988. In 1995 I led an island-wide population census that confirmed this to
> be true.
>
> In 1984 the British Antarctic Survey published a census of Falkland Island penguins
> recording a population of more than 6 million penguins:
> Croxall et al (1984) - "The status and conservation of seabirds at the Falkland
> Islands" International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge University.
>
> In 1995 the census that I led recorded a population of less than 1 million penguins
> - an 80% decline in just 11 years. Of course the Falkland Islands Government
> did not want to hear this. Their new fishing industry generated a revenue of
> US$25,000 per capita, which is a huge amount of money under-pinning the Falklands'
> prosperous lifestyle.
>
> I was offered a large pay raise to hush up the findings, but I chose this career
> because I believe in what I do, not for the money, so naturally I refused the
> bribes. I was then sacked and replaced with somebody more willing to accept the
> money. However I still published the findings in the prestigious British journal
> "Oryx" which is the quarterly journal of Fauna & Flora International (FFI), which
> is also published by Cambridge University:
> - Bingham (1998) - "The distribution, abundance and population trends of gentoo,
> rockhopper and king penguins in the Falkland Islands", ORYX, Vol. 32 No 3, pages
> 223 to 232.
>
> With the news of the Falklands massive penguin decline now public, the Falklands
> Islands Government stated that the decline was not because of commercial fishing,
> but rather part of a regional trend. This was a ridiculous argument, but impossible
> to disprove, because at that time there was no data whatsoever for neighbouring
> Chile and Argentina where the penguins also live.
>
> So during the summer of 1996/97, using my own savings and some donations, I put
> together a team to conduct a census of penguins in Chile and Argentina. The results
> showed no evidence of any decline in these countries. On the contrary, penguin
> colonies such as Staten Island in Argentina had increased from a few hundred
> to 10,000 during the Falklands decline. The results were conclusive. The decline
> was only occurring in the Falklands. The results were published during 1998 and
> 1999:
> - Bingham (1998) "Penguins of South America and the Falkland Islands", Penguin
> Conservation 11(1): 8-15.
> - Bingham and Mejias (1999) "Penguins of the Magellan Region", Scientia Marina
> Vol:63, Supl. 1: 485-493
>
> The Falkland Islands Government responded by arresting me, and began proceedings
> to deport me on the grounds that I had "repeatedly sought to discredit and bring
> into disrepute the state of the Falkland Islands environment and the role of
> the Government in its protection". The Governor of the Falkland Islands actually
> put that exact phrase in writing as grounds for my deportation !!!
>
> My father contacted his local MP in Britain, and on 27th October 1999 the matter
> was raised in the Houses of Parliament in London. The British Member of Parliament,
> John Battle MP, stated in the Houses of Parliament "This was clearly an error.
> I regret any embarrassment caused to Mr. Bingham."
>
> Following that incident the British government offered me funding to set up an
> independent penguin monitoring program in Chile, Argentina and the Falklands.
> The British government funded my work until 2004, by which time our penguin adoption
> program was sufficiently well established to take over and provide the funding
> required to continue our work.
>
> In October 2003 I took the Governor, Attorney General and the entire Executive
> Council of the Falkland Islands Government to the Supreme Court for human rights
> abuse. Chief Justice James Wood and the Supreme Court officials were all sent
> down from Britain to ensure a fair hearing. I won the case, and the Supreme Court
> declared the Falkland Islands Government guilty of human rights abuse which the
> court described as "morally and constitutionally indefensible".
>
> The article in the British government's newsletter marks 20 years since they
> came to my rescue, both legally and financially, and that is how our Adopt a
> Penguin program came to be born.
>
> I will write to you again in another month or so with more news about the chicks.
>
> Kind regards, Mike
>