Boulders Beach—Managing Tourists and African Penguins
A common question at Boulders Beach African penguin colony has nothing to do with penguins. “My hat blew off. Can you please get it for me?” The answer is always “No.” Seabird rangers at Boulders Beach won’t risk disturbing the African penguins to retrieve a hat.
We spent the morning with Vald, who let us hang out and watch him and other rangers work. They retrieved abandoned African penguin eggs, rescued an overheating chick, monitored penguin nests, and ensured the visitors behaved. Visitors must remain on the boardwalks and two viewing platforms. If you have seen videos on social media of people interacting with African penguins at Boulders Beach, please know that they are not supposed to do that and will face penalties if the rangers catch them, although a penguin bite could be an appropriate consequence, too.
Egg retrieval
The rangers inspect penguin nests, both natural and artificial nests like the one shown in this image, looking for abandoned eggs. If eggs are in a specific temperature range, the ranger knows the eggs have likely been abandoned. The rangers don’t measure the eggs; rather, they feel the eggs to decide.
Once collected, the eggs are transported to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), where they are incubated and hatch (video courtesy of SANCCOB).
Egg predation
No, no, bad bird! We witnessed two instances of Cape Gulls stealing eggs from African penguin nests. This learned behavior is an issue with two particularly persistent gulls at Boulders Beach. While the rangers can’t dispatch a predator in front of the tourists, one idea discussed was buying chicken eggs and placing them behind the colony to lure the gulls away and take care of them out of sight.
African penguin chick rescue
Seabird rangers monitor African penguin chicks and will intervene if they believe the chick is overheating, ill, or requires medical treatment. As the day became warmer, seabird ranger Vard fixed his binoculars on a baby chick, watching it for signs of heat distress. When the chick’s mouth stayed open, a sign that the chick was getting too hot, Vard made a judgment call that fell into the better safe than sorry category.
Vard donned his protective gloves (African penguins bite and will draw blood) and slowly crawled toward the chick. Once he’d retrieved the chick, he poured cool water on the chick’s feet to start the cooling process before transporting it to SANCCOB for care. The chick will never be reunited with its parents.
We were left with some questions:
- Would a temporary rescue be better? About 30 minutes after the rescue, the breeze turned cooler. Could the chick, after being cooled by the water on its feet, have been returned to its mother?
- Some penguin colony rangers remove a chick for just two or three days if weather is an issue or if it is overheating and return it to its mother rather than permanently removing it. Is that something to consider? We know that metrics are important for fundraising and that the number of chicks rescued is counted.
- Using artificial nests on the beach, as in other parts of the colony where the African penguins nest under trees, would reduce the need to rescue overheated chicks. However, if the African penguins were provided artificial nests on the beach, tourists would not see baby chicks during nesting season. How do you balance the need to keep the tourists happy with the welfare of the penguins?
- Would the chick’s mother miss the chick? We got mixed answers, with the consensus being that the mother would usually lay a couple more eggs and start over. We were not completely satisfied with that answer. We know that Emperor penguins have an astonishing display of grief. We are still searching for a definitive answer about grief in African penguins.
While Boulders Beach African penguin colony, which is part of the Table Mountain National Park protected area, employs several seabird rangers, Dyer Island penguin colony relies on a single seabird ranger.
One seabird ranger, 2,800 African penguins
Lwando Baleni, the dedicated Dyer Island seabird ranger, whose salary and expenses we have funded since 2024, monitors the 2,800 African penguins that call Dyer Island home. He is responsible for the following:
- Twice weekly breeding monitoring during the African penguin breeding season
- African penguin monthly molt counts – weekly
- Monthly coastal & seabird census
- Predation monitoring – ongoing
Data collected provides CapeNature, the management authority for Dyer Island, and the Dyer Island Conservation Trust with vital information for better conservation planning. The goal is to improve habitat conditions and mitigate other impacts through actions like predation management plans rather than rely solely on ongoing rehabilitation intervention to save critically endangered African penguins.
Our partner, the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary, which falls under the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, hosted us for a week in March 2025. Dyer Island is not open to the public, so we looked forward to traveling by boat for a private tour.
The sea can be tricky, and conditions can change quickly and dramatically. We reached the dock to release two rehabilitated African penguins back into the wild. We were saying hello to Lwando, when we heard a loud crack as one of the two outboard motors slapped against the pier, signaling that leaving the boat was unsafe, and it was time to leave. Despite the orange jackets, we were soaked during our adventure.
While we didn’t get to tour Dyer Island, our mission to return the two rehabilitated African penguins to the wild was a success, which is the most important thing. Many thanks to Lwando for sending this video of the African penguin release.
Have a look at our A Joyful African Penguin Release post to watch the video of our penguin release at Boulders Beach.