The mystery of St. Kilda penguins

 4/4/2012

Ollessani pieni alakouluikainen tyton tyllero opettajani kertoi minulle, etta pingviinit elavat Etelanavalla. Ei ollut mitaan puhetta Australiasta tai Melbournesta. Tuli siis jarkytyksena kuulla, etta opettajani oli salannut minulta kyseisen tiedon ja jattanyt kyseisen aukon sivistykseeni: pingviineja elaa myos Australiassa. No okei .. Ehka ylireagoin hieman, mutta myonnan olleeni todella hammastynyt kuullessani, etta voit tavata Herra Pingviinin myos taalla Melbournessa. Voiko se olla totta? Tama mysteeri on selvitettava. Paikka, missa voit nahda naita pikkuisia smokkiin pukeutuneita veijareita on St. Kildan satamassa. Sinne siis !

When I was a little girl my teacher taught me that the penguins live at the South Pole. There was no talk about Australia or Melbourne. So you can imagine how big a shock it was for me to hear that you can see penguins here in Melbourne ! How my teacher could do that to me .. Ok, perhaps I'm little bit overreacting but I must to admit I was quite surprised when I heard that I could actually see penguins in St. Kilda. Could it be true. This mystery must be solved. To the St. Kilda harbour then !

St. Kilda's harbour

Paiva oli taittumassa illaksi, kun saavuimme Y:n kanssa satamaan ja huomasimme monien muidenkin saapuneen paikalle. Ilmassa oli suurta odotuksen tuntua. Asetin kameran asetukset valmiiksi ja otin salaman pois, jotta en vahingoittaisi vauvapingviinien silmia kamerani salamavalolla. Sain kuitenkin kohdata uuden yllatyksen ..

The day was about to turn into evening when we arrived to the port of St. Kilda. There were lot of other people too excited to see the penguins. And I could feel the excitment in the air .. I set my camera settings ready and took the flash off so I won't hurt the little penguins eyes. But soon I found out a new surprising thing ..

Kyltin pikku pingviineilla ei tarkoiteta vauvaikaisia yksiloita vaan pingviinit itseasiassa ovat pikku pingviineja (oho, tulipas kaytettya sana pingviini usein, noh toivottavasti hokasitet pointin !). Kyltti siis tarkoitti tata kuvassa nakyvaa alle puolen metrin korkuista pikku otusta. Kyseinen yksilo ja sen kaverit valitettavasti tykkasivat piilotella kivien valissa ja parempaa kuvaa ei ollut tarjolla. Pienia tai ei sopoja ne kuitenkin olivat. Itselleni tuli itseasiassa mieleen, etta ne nama yksilot muistuttavat vahan Madagascarissa seikkalevia agenttipingviineja .. Eiko kuvan otuksella olekin hieman agenttimainen olemus ja katse kuvassa?

The little penguins are actually also the big penguins. I mean I thought the sign meant little baby penguins but the penguins who live in the breakwater rocks are actually small penguins and called Little Penguins (did I say the word "penguin" perhaps too many times?). The little creatures were just about 30-40 cm long and they were hiding behind the rocks. Small or not but they were so cute anyway ! And actually I think they remind the agent penguins from Madagascar. In fact, don't you think the penguin looks like it's spying something and has this "agent look" .. ?

The little penguin (sorry about the bad quality)

Penguins of Madagascar

Me pakenimme rikospaikalta ennen auringinlaskua, mutta kuulemma sen aikoihin pingviinit palaavat uintireissultaan takaisin omiin pesakoloihinsa ja silloin on paras hetki nahda niita. Noh, ehka ensi kerralla. Oma missioni tuli suoritettua: ratkaista St. Kildan pingviinien mysteeri.

We runaway from the crime scene before sunset but I heard that the best time to see them is just before. Then they swim in for the day and climb the breakwater rocks into their nests. Well .. Maybe next time. My own mission was accomplished: solving the mystery of St. Kilda Penguins.