Okay, I am not going to lie. It has always been a dream of mine to have an army of penguins. Seriously. No one ever suspects the penguins. Plus they are so cute!!!
A few years ago I bought a pair of boot/shoes from my fave shoe company, Merrell.
Cute right?!!? You know if you are outdoorsy like me. Plus they are super comfortable. I lurved these shoes at first sight. Than I noticed the bottoms.
I now had my very own army of penguins, following in my footsteps everywhere I went. Plus they were participating in some of my favourite hobbies, photography and fishing. It was fate I tell you fate. Plus in the snow, it left the impression of the penguins. They were awesome. I went through a hard time that winter with my grandmother passing away, and the longest time spent without seeing J, as he was changing job locations. I wore these boots everyday that winter and found comfort in them. I know I am a freak and who finds emotional comfort in a pair of shoes that most people wouldn't be caught dead in? But I did. I still have the boots even though they are worn down pretty good and actually hurt me to wear them for any period of time anymore. I can't get rid of them.
So yes we are going to celebrate Penguin Awareness day for that reason (my weird obsession about how penguins pulled me through the worst winter ever).
On my last trip to the Toronto Zoo in September, I took some pics of the penguins. So they will be peppered throughout the post.
Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds. They are mostly found in the Southern Hemisphere in places like Antarctica and off the coast of Africa, Australia, and the western coast of South America. Most don't live in cold climates, like we automatically assume when we think of penguins.There are between 17 and 20 subspecies of penguins and they range in size from the Blue Penguin averaging in at 16 inches to the Emperor Penguin averaging at 3 feet 7 in.
They generally live and breed in large social groups. However they are known for having monogamous relationships during that breeding season. The large social structure of most penguins has caused them to have a variety of calls to communicate with one another.
Penguins split their time pretty evenly between being on land and in the water. Their wings have evolved to be used as flippers for swimming rather than for flight. When looked upon in the water, the physiology is very similar to a bird flying. On land they used their tail for balance and waddle or slide on their bellies to get around. They may hop on both feet to move quickly.
They are also masters of camouflage. When in the water their white bellies are hard to distinguish from the ice/sky when looking from below. Their dark backs are hard to distinguish from the dark water when looking from above.
The reason behind Penguin Awareness day is that penguins are endangered. Some species have less than 2000 birds left living. There are a couple of causes to this decline, but one of the biggest causes is Oil. When there is an oil spill, there is almost no chance to clean it up in time without killing penguins. Penguins only feed under water, so they have to be in the water to get their food. If they get covered in oil, they try to clean themselves as animals are prone to doing and will die from consuming the oil. Oil also affects unhatched eggs. If the eggs do happen to hatch, the bird is usually not healthy.
Climate change is also having an effect on the penguins that live in colder climates. Much like the effect on polar bears. Climate change is melting Ice Bergs, which penguins use for moving around to different areas.
In more populated areas that penguins live in, boat traffic and over fishing are problems for penguins. People going too fast with boats have a tendency to hit the penguins, possibly without even realising it. Over fishing makes it a lot harder for the penguins to find food.
So there you have it people. Penguin Awareness Day. Support penguins and help keep them around for generations to come.
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