Rockhopper penguins stranded on SW coast set for release

Three young rockhopper penguins have found themselves a bit far from home, after their moult kicked in too early and left them stranded in the South West.

Hailing from a group of tiny islands between Australia, Africa and Antarctica, the trio are spending the summer in Margaret River until their new, waterproof feathers come through.

The birds are listed as vulnerable and rarely seen on our shores, feeding in the Great Australian Bight before heading back to their colonies to breed and moult.

But 6R Wildlife Rescue carer Linda Moyle said in the last few years, local carers were seeing more and more turn up.

“Last year I had five and another carer had five so we had ten in total, which was the largest number we’d had here in the South West,” she said. “This year we’ve had eight, but before that it was only a couple.”

“Their colony is quite far from here, but sometimes they moult early and they have to get to the closest land.

When they turn up in public view, they need to be brought into care as they are too much of a novelty to leave them there.

They may be small, but Ms Moyle said they had big personalities and were a lot of fun to look after.

“I had one a while back that was in love with the music from the ice-cream van,” she said.“He could hear it when it was miles away and would just start calling and calling. It was just so funny.”

Once their coats are waterproof and their bellies are full, Cliff, Sanna and Nicole will be released near an island off Augusta, ready to begin their long journey home.