Humboldt Penguins

Meet our wonderful colony of Humboldt penguins during your visit to the Sanctuary.

We have a recent addition to our colony, Squidge, who is a beautiful boy with so much character!

Each penguin has a different coloured tag to be able to tell them apart. Male penguins have a coloured band on their right wing and females on their left wing.

Humboldt Penguins in wild

These endearing and sometimes comical creatures come from the coasts of Chile and Peru where there are estimated to be fewer than 10,000 pairs still surviving.

Colonies like ours here may one day provide a vital lifeline for this endangered species. Their disappearance would certainly be a tragic loss to the animal kingdom. The main causes for the decline in this species are climate change, habitat destruction, overfishing of prey fish species and nest destruction due to commercial guano harvesting.

In the wild penguins love to eat sardines and anchovies, but so do we and supplies are running low. Here at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, we are passionate about educating people on the plight of these amazing penguins. Together we can all help make a difference by avoiding eating anchovies and sardines harvested in Peruvian fisheries and instead opting for more sustainably caught fish species.

Did you know, though they are birds, penguins have flippers instead of wings. They cannot fly and on land they waddle walking upright—though when snow conditions are right they will slide on their bellies.

In the water they are expert swimmers and divers, and some species can reach speeds of up to 15 miles per hour!