0:28

This episode is all about penguins.

0:30

Sure we touch on the iconic emperor and king penguins of Antarctica, but they're just the tip of the penguin iceberg.

0:38

Katie prop, the conservation education director for penguins international tells us about the status of the adorable African penguins.

0:46

That make their nests out of their own poop.

0:49

And why people have scraped bear, the poop covered rocks, where the penguins live, leaving the penguins homeless and in harm's way.

0:57

She shares how you can help build penguin houses join a digital penguin colony and provide incubators and fish smoothies.

1:07

To help African penguin chicks survive and be released into new homes and the wild.

1:13

Katie who is a conservation communicator, also shares ways.

1:17

We can each leverage and expand our individual impact for the sake of our shared home planet earth.

1:24

And listen to the end to find out about Katie's favorite animal and another animal poop idiosyncrasy.

1:32

Hey, I want to apologize to you dear listeners, that I was losing my voice when we recorded this episode and I have braces on my teeth now.

1:40

So I sound like I swallowed a frog and a snake.

1:43

But the situation with African penguins is so important.

1:47

I wanted to make sure you heard the story from Katie so you could help out penguins.

1:53

Thanks. Hey Katie.

2:08

Welcome to Kathy on Earth. Thanks so much for agreeing to meet with me and talk about penguins.

2:14

Of course. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

2:18

Why don't we just dive right in. I'm just gonna apologize for how horrible my voice sounds today.

2:22

but you're fine. Yeah, so penguins are amazing.

2:25

There are 18 species of penguins, but when I ask people to picture a penguin, they often picture a black and white waddling friend in Antarctica or somewhere snowy.

2:37

And of course there are so many types of penguins.

2:40

Yes, black and white is very common, plumage for penguins, but they can also have oranges and yellows and kind of some vibrancy.

2:49

And they're grouped into a couple different groups, So we have the large penguins like the Emperor Penguin and the King Penguin.

2:55

A lot of people know those ones cuz they're very stoic.

2:59

We have the crested penguins and tho se I like to call the punk rock Penguins of Earth because they all have plumage that sticks up in the air which is very cool.

3:08

There's the little penguin the yellow white penguin.

3:11

And then the other two groups would be brush tailed penguins, and then banded penguins.

3:15

So a couple different groups. And of course, they're spread throughout the southern hemisphere, so no polar bears and penguins would never be together, ever They're all found at the equator and below the equator.

3:27

All right. Thank you for dispelling that myth.

3:30

Yes. And we can't save polar bears by moving them to Antarctica or save penguins by moving them to the Arctic Correct.

3:38

But we can save sea ice, which will help both All right.

3:41

We'll get into that in a minute here. But i, I wanna just get Really clear on some of the mysteries about penguins, and can you please let us know? Can any of the penguins fly? Underwater but not beyond that.

3:57

So penguins are actually really cool.

4:00

They have this adaptation called being hydrodynamic, which means they can quickly zoom through the water similar to aerodynamics through the air.

4:07

They are birds, but they definitely have adaptations that help them survive in the ocean.

4:13

So one of my favorite things about them is they can keep these bubbles underneath their feathers and basically create what's called a bubble boost, where they have these little muscles attached to every single feather that they can tighten, which then pushes the bubbles out of those feathers, allowing them to propel faster through the water.

4:33

So it's almost like a little jet engine boost.

4:36

And we've used that for torpedoes and other sorts of things as humans.

4:41

Technology I it's made by penguins, right? Borrowing from nature.

4:44

That's really cool. All right. So they're really just adapted for.

4:50

In the water and at the waters edge.

4:53

Yes. So they're considered a marine species. They really are a lovely creature because they do have that balance between being on land and being in the ocean and being a marine sentinel and an indicator of ocean health.

5:05

So that's why I'm definitely fascinated by them is they have a little bit of both world.

5:11

Yeah. So we were talking earlier about a crisis that's happening with African penguins, and I was hoping you might talk about what are African penguins, where do they live? What are some of their threats and what's going on with their eggs this year? Yes, African penguins, well, their location is kind of given away in the name Africa.

5:30

So they are found in Namibia and South Africa and the islands right next to it.

5:36

African Penguins, they are endangered.

5:39

So there are nine out of the 18 species of penguins are threatened with extinction.

5:45

African penguins are on the top of that list, so unfortunately they're encountering a lot of issue.

5:53

oil spills is probably the most popular one that people would see in media.

5:58

A lot of oil spills that are impacting the penguins, cuz obviously they swim through that area, but also they're looking for fish, which is their primary food source.

6:07

And of course the fish. are full of the oil And in addition to that, there's a lot of fisheries that are competing with the penguins.

6:17

So people like to eat anchovies and sardines and mackerel.

6:21

Well so do the African penguins. So there's competition in that area as well.

6:25

And then of course we have an increase in climate change, which is making it a lot hotter in an already hot African area.

6:35

And then of course there's people which are causing all of these issues, And it started, you know, in the, in the 19th century with guano harvesting.

6:45

Wait, GU, harvesting, what did you say? Guano harvesting.

6:48

Yeah. So guano is another word for poop.

6:52

Penguin poop. That is okay. And of course, the penguins, they, they actually nest in their poop, which sounds disgusting, but it's nature's miracle actually.

7:04

Their nests are naturally protecting from the sun.

7:09

So when they burrow into that guano, it creates a cool area for those birds and their eggs because Africa is very hot.

7:16

But people discovered guano is an excellent fertilizer.

7:21

So they started harvesting the Guo to the point where there is no more guano in South Africa at all anymore.

7:28

And so these penguins are left exposed to our warming planet, which just keeps getting hotter And if you think about it, penguins have a black back and a white underbelly.

7:38

Mm-hmm. So just like getting in the hot seat of a car, they're just absorbing all of that heat onto their back.

7:44

They're receiving a lot of heat stress from that.

7:46

And of course they will abandon their eggs and chicks to go cool off in the ocean as a result.

7:51

So lots of combination of things creating a terrible situation for.

7:57

Wait, so is there anything we can do? Like, can we make nest substitutes for them? Is there something that any kind of intervention to help as a stop gap measure? For that species and yeah.

8:11

Just sounds horrible. It it is, and you know, it, people didn't realize it and it was until it was a little too late for them.

8:19

That, you know, they should have stopped the, the guano harvesting.

8:22

So nest boxes are the solution.

8:26

Unfortunately, it's the short-term and the long-term solution right now, and the aza the Association of Zoos and Aquariums mm-hmm.

8:34

Safe Program and the Saving Animals from Extinction Program, they have a section focused on African penguins and working with the Dallas Zoo and Saving Penguins, they are building these wonderful nest boxes that are made of a lightweight material like a fiberglass type situation.

8:51

So those are being built right now and deployed.

8:55

To these islands and areas where the African penguin numbers have diminished because of the lack of nests.

9:00

So that is a project that is currently in progress and hopefully will continue with the support of your listeners and people that wanna help.

9:10

They can donate to support one of these sorts of nest boxes to get deployed.

9:15

Oh, that's great. And they would do that through supporting Penguin's International.

9:19

Yeah, they can do that Through supporting us, through supporting our partners.

9:22

And of course there's a similar issue with the Humboldt Penguins in South America.

9:26

So both banded penguins, African and the humboldt deal with guano issues.

9:32

Okay. So these are species that live far enough north that they are interacting and interfacing with humans.

9:41

Correct. So some of the northern penguin species they, they're what I would call warm weather penguins.

9:48

Mm-hmm. So you've got some cold weather penguins, which would be the emperor penguin, the Adele penguin chin strap, and gen two.

9:55

They live in more of the colder climates.

9:57

And then you have some of the warmer species, which would be the ones you find in South America, the Galapagos Islands, south Africa, and then of course Australia, New Zealand.

10:07

And of course people, we like the warmth too, so that's true.

10:11

We tend to move to the areas where there's heat and that's where those penguins are.

10:16

Can you talk about some other conservation projects related to the African Penguin? I'm thinking specifically about the incubators.

10:24

That, so you said that the adult penguins were getting too hot and they would abandon their eggs.

10:30

So what happens then? Can, can they be rescued? Yes, so there is a really amazing organization that we work with called SANCOB.

10:39

They're the South African group that works with coastal seabirds.

10:43

And so they have a team of rangers that go out and collect penguin eggs that have been abandoned and bring them into their facility.

10:52

There are two locations where they can bring these eggs to, depending on what's closer.

10:57

They have nine colonies that they manage when it comes to the rescue.

11:02

And so we have been working with San Cob to start the Penguin Incubator Project, which is tied to digital collectibles.

11:11

The common folk may know that as NFTs ooh, but basically people can purchase one of these NFTs or digital collectible, and the proceeds from that is the cost of one incubator.

11:22

And by purchasing that, it's a symbolic adoption of an incubator, which can house about 40 eggs which is critical.

11:31

Right now they're very short on incubators.

11:34

They received 200 eggs this year, 200 chicks this year, and they do not have the space to keep all of them.

11:43

And of course, compound that with the avian flu happening right now.

11:48

There's just a lot going on. They really need our help, and that's why this project is critical so we can help support the purchase of incubators and then, Of course, ideally, hopefully all 200 of those eggs will hatch into, what do you call a baby penguin? A chick.

12:06

They'd hatch into a chick.

12:08

Okay. And then those chicks become, you know, adolescence and then they they basically teach 'em how to swim, and then we'll do targeted releases with a government and kind of some of the other partners out there.

12:19

Into which colony these penguins are gonna go to.

12:23

So that's part of the fun of our digital collectibles, is we've made each collectible tied to one of these colonies.

12:29

So it's sort of like a trading card where you join in and you find out what colony are part of.

12:34

And then working with San Cob, we're getting updates from the field so people can see how well the incubators are doing, how many chicks have successfully hatched where.

12:44

they ended up going and the success of the different colonies.

12:47

So it's really exciting. This year they started a new colony at an area called D Hoop, which used to have penguins, but they have gone extinct from that area, so they've started releasing penguins back in their area this year.

13:01

So really exciting to see these penguins kind of spread out where they, mm-hmm.

13:06

should be historically That's good news.

13:09

Fingers crossed, that's a conservation success story.

13:12

Fingers crossed. Avian flu, you know, it's like the penguin pandemic, their own version of it.

13:17

Yeah. And so tricky, tricky situation that they're in is already an endangered species.

13:22

But yeah, we're hopeful that, with San Cob and getting them the resources that they need, they can help the birds in their care.

13:30

I really appreciate that you are making it possible for supporters and donors to be able to keep track of the animals that they are, you know, directly supporting.

13:40

So it's wonderful to have that personal connection to the program.

13:43

Thanks for doing that. Yeah, of course.

13:45

It's that transparency that I think people feel comfort in and also knowing that they're supporting a really wonderful organization and the people that work there as well.

13:54

So those rangers, they have salaries that need to be paid and you know.

13:58

Gotta buy all the fish to feed the babies after they hatch and before they get released into the wild yes.

14:04

And the mixtures where they, you know, make a fish puree, Ooh.

14:08

That they have to feed to the youngsters.

14:10

I'm sure the smell is just delightful.

14:13

Sounds like a keto smoothie. Yeah.

14:15

You know, fish, fish smoothie, he wouldn't want that.

14:20

Hey, could you talk a little bit about penguin Awareness Day? So Penguin Awareness Day is January.

14:27

2023. And it's a day where worldwide we celebrate penguins, we bring awareness to the world about penguins, and of course the conservation message that goes along with it.

14:40

So we'll be doing some celebrations virtually through our social media.

14:45

And of course we're doing an in-person event locally here in Colorado.

14:49

We're doing a painting for Penguin's event where people can come and paint a penguin and sip on some tea.

14:55

So it should be a really fun event. And of course we work with a whole bunch of people in the field that will be sharing some stories with us through social media.

15:03

Oh, great. So we'll be able to see some updates from penguin researchers and conservation orgs around the.

15:11

Yes. And we also will be working with Seafood Watch and sharing information about how individuals as consumers can choose the best fish that don't compete with Penguin.

15:22

So if you are planning a fish dinner for Penguin Awareness Day, you can choose the proper sustainable fish so you're not taking food out of the penguin's.

15:34

Correct Oh, that's incredible. That's amazing.

15:36

So so you said Monterey Bay Aquarium Fish Watch.

15:40

Wait, say that again? Seafood. Seafood. Watch. Seafood. Seafood Watch.

15:43

Yes. So they have a website where people can search based on the area, area that they live to determine what seafood is the best to eat.

15:52

They have green, which is great, yellow, which is not the best and red, which should be avoid.

15:59

That's really to eat. Meaning you're not harming the ocean.

16:03

Yes. Correct. You're choosing a sustainable option.

16:06

Mm-hmm. Katie, we've known each other for a while and you are truly one of the best conservation communicators and science communicators that I know.

16:16

You're able to take complex scientific information and translated into stories and relatable ways of conveying and really connecting people to the content.

16:29

Is that just something you come by naturally or how did you find your way into this field? It's not really it's not really a real direct path from any kind of declared major in college or anything like that.

16:39

So how did you get started working as a conservation communicator? I love that question so much because you do know me so well in my journey, but I'm so excited to share about it.

16:49

I was a theater kid from, you know, very young age.

16:53

I had no fear getting up in front of people and talking and singing.

16:58

My mother likes to tell this story that when I was two I stole the mic from church and started singing a song from the Sound of Music And you know, the rest is history I, I started volunteering at Brookfield Zoo as a teenager and that's where my love for animals and my love for public speaking really came together and I learned that this was a career path that I could actually pursue.

17:20

So I used to stand in front of exhibits with specimens and would talk to the guests about the, these bio fax and share about the animals and interpret.

17:31

That's where my mentors saw something in me and they said, Hey, you know, we can, we can help you cultivate this through experiences.

17:40

And one of those experiences that came my way, of course was Polar Bears International.

17:45

I was selected from the youth volunteers to travel to Churchill, Canada in 2008 where I met you.

17:52

Yes. And during that trip, of course, just working.

17:56

In the Arctic, learning about how to communicate about the climate and the situation we're in and bring that back to my zoo.

18:06

I worked in tandem with our bear keeper and we did presentations, and I did presentations in my neighborhood and it just kept going from there, you know.

18:15

So continually talking to people and I worked at several zoos since then.

18:20

As you know, I worked at the Clum Zoo with Jack Hannah for a brief period of time learning how to be a program animal keeper.

18:27

And that of course is touching the heart to teach the mind using animals to.

18:32

Get people to care for conservation.

18:35

And yeah, there's a lot of steps since then that have gotten me here.

18:39

But here I am, other side of the world, Penguin's international.

18:42

So animals are, are my heart and I believe that I'll continue to work in this field and try to communicate the issues across to all types of people.

18:53

That's amazing. What a journey, literally from pole to.

18:56

Yes, absolutely. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

18:59

I love, I love Penguin so much.

19:01

I love polar bear so much, and even though they're on opposite sides of the globe, there are so many threads connecting all these things together.

19:10

Cool. So, Katie, with everything that is going on in the world with climate and plastic pollutions and so many things that just feel so overwhelming to everybody, can you tell us some things that are real person can really do to actually make a real difference? The first thing I will say is having hope.

19:32

I know that that seems like a weird thing, but it's a tangible thing.

19:36

It's so easy to see media and see these reports from scientists and feel disheartened by those statistics because the reality is, We caused a lot of these issues.

19:49

We are the problem, but we're also the solution.

19:52

So I think the first step is realizing that if we have hope and we can work together, we can actually accomplish a lot of these things and truly make a difference it's, it's like what people say, the people you surround yourself with impact how you act, right? Mm-hmm.

20:08

And so that's how I feel is a lot of us conservationists a lot of.

20:11

that care about these animals, we need to think in a more positive way of these solutions and band together to accomplish those things.

20:20

So that's the first step. The second thing, of course, are those little tangible things that someone can do to make a difference, but I think.

20:28

A lot of times it's targeting those movers and shakers, those people that are in places of power that have control over a lot of these situations.

20:37

So whether that's signing a petition or communicating with something locally, I think acting locally is going to.

20:46

Make a, a bigger impact because it's within your sphere of influence.

20:51

Mm-hmm. So going to your neighborhood coffee shop and saying, hi, I, I noticed you have plastic straws.

20:57

Have you ever considered switching to another alternative? And, and having that discussion with that local coffee shop owner and making mm-hmm.

21:05

a, a change. Sure. You personally could have a metal straw that you bring in your purse or bag or satchel or however you bring your supplies.

21:15

mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, your back pocket and, and you bring that to a store and yes, that's making a difference.

21:20

But imagine if you have that conversation with that coffee shop owner, and not only are you no longer contributing to plastic, but everybody that's going to that.

21:32

is now noticing that change and might ask questions about it, and that conversation is happening on a different level.

21:39

It's, it's having a conversation and looking at where do you work and how are you using your resources.

21:47

Mm-hmm. are there resources you could use differently? And then of course there's sustainability, right? Looking at where.

21:54

are the things in your home coming from and how can you make purchasing decisions that are better for the planet? We have solar on the roof here in our home.

22:03

Mm-hmm. because we care about the planet. So things like that that you can do personally as well do make an impact.

22:09

I like that you are giving people not just ideas and suggestions, but you are actually recognizing that, you know, we have to help people along the path and and give them props for, you know, making an effort and making change.

22:24

Right, right. And us as individuals, a lot of us that care about conservation, we kind of already know the reduce, reuse, recycle.

22:32

Mm-hmm. we already use re reusable bags at the grocery store.

22:35

It's what's that next step that you could take mm-hmm.

22:39

and providing the tools that maybe you already have in your back pocket for others.

22:43

Mm-hmm. So you're absolutely right. It's bringing people along on this journey and trying to spread the message as well as the.

22:52

We can look at our little picture, but once we have the little picture figured out, zoom out.

22:57

We have to think big picture though.

22:59

You know, we all live on this planet. We have to look at the big picture.

23:03

Yes. Do you share your house with any animals? Are you secretly harboring of penguin? I wish I was harboring a penguin.

23:11

Of course I'm not. I do share the household with another Homo Sapien, my husband, but of course, two wonderful animals.

23:18

I have a chocolate lab and his name is Carson.

23:22

He'll be two on January 15th, so a little bit after this podcast probably comes out.

23:28

And then I have a crested gec ko.

23:31

and his name is Pascal Cool.

23:33

And I don't know how old he is.

23:36

He is pretty old. I'm guessing he's probably around like 13 ish.

23:40

So a very old gecko who's really lovely.

23:44

I love it. So you're a bird person and a mammal person.

23:47

And a reptile person. Yes. I'm all the things if I could.

23:51

My own little zoo that I wouldn't have to run.

23:54

I could not run an entire zoo without help, but yes.

23:57

You know the, yes. They, they all make me happy, all the creatures.

24:00

Yay. Well, what's your favorite animal and why? I love that question, and you already know my answer.

24:08

It's wombats through and through wombats are the coolest marsupials on this beautiful.

24:13

They have a pouch that is upside down because they dig and burrow into what's called their warren.

24:20

So as they're moving the dirt with their claws, it's not getting into their pouch.

24:24

So by it being backwards, it means that their baby's head kind of pokes out under their bum.

24:30

Which is very cute. their bum is also really hard.

24:34

They have like a bony plate and so when they burrow, a dingo will like try to get them and they can actually twerk and smash a dingo skull which is very cool.

24:45

And if that doesn't sell you on it, they have cubed poop.

24:48

Like what? What? I don't know what. They're weird.

24:51

They're cool. I love. Oh my God.

24:54

And I also love that when you talk about them, you kind of get an Australian person accent.

24:58

Yes. It's fantastic. So wait, let's go back to the cube poop.

25:02

So you're saying that they're, For some reason, their little individual poop pellets look like dice instead of like gumdrops or yeah.

25:10

Yeah. It's, it's like a little tiny cube.

25:13

Google it, they have. The ability to suck all of the water out of their intestinal tract, and of course they're actually herbivorous, so they're eating a lot of grains and things like that.

25:26

And so it just kind ofs and they don't have a cubed rear end or anything like that.

25:32

That's just how it turns out. Very cool.

25:34

Love it. Katie, what is your wish for the.

25:38

It's such a tough question, isn't it? Because we all wish so much for this planet and for me, I think my wish for the earth is to leave it in a better condition than we found it, which is a bit of a cliche.

25:53

But if we cared as much for our Earth as we do our own homes with curating a beautiful place, our planet would thrive.

26:01

I like that because this is our home. It is.

26:04

And you know, you look around in magazines, H G T V, at Dream Homes and things like that, and you go, wow, this is amazing.

26:12

You know, look at the windows that show the beauty of Earth.

26:15

But if we're not looking at the earth itself first and saying, how are we preserving this beautiful view what's the point? Right? Right on.

26:23

Yeah, and, and we're grateful that our homes are not constructed out of our own guano That's also true.

26:33

Although I would be curious to stay in an Airbnb constructed out of guano, I would try it.

26:38

Just say it, you know, it's like, feel like a penguin.

26:41

And the go only thing in the mini fridge is fish Katie, I appreciate you so much.

26:46

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us about penguins and give us real actions that we can take to help them and all of the other animals on the planet.

26:56

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to share about Penguin's with you and of course anyone that's listening, if you would like to follow along with our Penguin journey, Penguin's International can be found on Facebook and Instagram and we have a TikTok as well LinkedIn and Twitter.

27:12

So just, just type in Penguins International or Penguins I N T L, and you can find us that way.

27:19

Awesome. Thanks Katie.

27:21

You later. Thank you.