Otago Peninsula

There’s a certain list of animals that all little kids know exist. You can probably name them off with me: lions, tigers, bears, sharks, elephants, giraffes, dolphins, whales, kangaroos, polar bears, eagles, snakes, penguins, bats.

There’s a certain list of animals we grow up knowing about. Either because they are found in zoos or circuses or our picture books.

But it’s always a strange thing to realize that they actually, truly exist.

It was strange to see a real live lion in Africa. They are huge, covered in fur. They don’t look like they should be real, they look like they should be plush toys. The way they move when they are lazy in the sun enforces that feeling—they are languid, and slow, soft. Of course, if I saw one hunting I might feel differently.

I recently experienced another one of those how-strange-to-realize-they-really-exist moments. With penguins.

One of the reasons I looked for a WWOOF host in Dunedin was that Dunedin is on the edge of the Otago Peninsula—a stretch of land that proudly calls itself “New Zealand’s wildlife capital.” Obviously I had to go there.

Besides spending three afternoons going on long walks through the bush in and around town I did get a chance to venture out onto the peninsula. People come to the peninsula in search of four animals: Royal Albatross, Yellow-eyed Penguins, Fur Seals, and Sea Lions.

Luckily, I got to see all four of those.

The Otago Peninsula has the world’s only main land nesting colony of Royal Albatross, so I took a little cruise out on the water to view them from the sea. They’re gorgeous birds, too big for my mind to understand. I only really saw them from a distance, but, nerd that I am, I thought it was really great to see them fly. They don’t flap their wings, but rely on the wind to help them soar.

Albatross nest

Can you spot the albatross?

New Zealand fur seals dot the shore line as well, so I got a great look at those cute little things. The story of these animals is sad—their population is only just recovering from the massacre that occurred when Europeans discovered the great numbers of seals in new Zealand and, knowing that they’d make a great profit, hunted them nearly to extinction. (Same goes for the whales that used to be found in these areas as well, but their numbers are still very, very low).

As far as the sea lions go, I don’t know much about them. And I don’t have a photo to show you as the only one I saw was a ways away and quickly went back into the ocean before I got a picture.

But let me tell you about penguins. Let me tell you about penguins.

Depending on who you ask, Yellow-eyed Penguins are either the world’s rarest penguins or tied as being the rarest penguins with another kind. But, so, yeah, there aren’t many of them left. In New Zealand, their numbers have gone down mostly due to  habitat destruction. These birds are shy, and refuse to nest within eyesight of other penguins. That means they need lots of bushes and hidey holes. But since much of New Zealand has been cleared for sheep or cattle to feed on, those bushes have disappeared.

There are parts of New Zealand now, like where I saw them, where organizations have deliberately planted native bush along the beaches in order to provide the penguins the habitat they need.

Seeing these penguins was weird and strange and wonderful. It’s so strange to realize that they actually exist. They are so unique and move so differently and just appear out of nowhere out of the ocean.

Just hopped out of the water

My tour guide told me that people connect more with the penguins than they do to the albatross. I can see why.