Do all penguins really mate for life?
‘ Fairy penguins are only found in the Southern Hemisphere preferring the warmer waters along the shores of Southern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. They are the smallest of all the penguins. Some scientists recognize the Fairy penguin as one of two subspecies of Little Penguin; with the White-flippered penguin now being considered the second subspecies. Other scientists believe the White-flippered penguins to be the eighteenth penguin species. Fairy penguins are also called ‘Little Blues’ because of the indigo-blue and slate-gray color of their feathers. The White-flippered penguins are distinguished by having a white stripe around the edges of their flippers. Fairy penguins spend their days out at sea hunting for food in the shallow waters close to the shore. They can often be seen congregating in groups, referred to as ‘rafts’. At dusk they return to their burrows or rock crevice colonies, which can be quite noisy especially before their pre-dawn departure back to sea to feed.
