PENGUIN PARADE

The world famous Penguin Parade is at Phillip Island of Melbourne. The Penguin Parade is a group walk by Penguins which are just 33 cms tall. Phillip Island is the largest colony of home for Little Penguins. Little Penguins are the smallest Penguins in the world. They are almost extinct now.

We went to Penguin Parade at around 8.00 p.m. and were sitting with other audience on the steps built for viewing the beautiful natural phenomena. Here at Melbourne it is generally dark in the evenings around 8.30 p.m. So we were happy to see the sea in both evening and night time. The climate was just mesmerising. The waves were so loud that although the audience were all speaking we could listen to the clear flow of waves. The sky was blue and so was sea. There was cool breeze and curiosity raising every minute to see when the penguins are coming.

There was an announcement that the raft i.e. groups of penguins are found nearby but the penguins are waiting for the night as they are afraid to be noticed by sea eagles. We are not allowed to take pictures at Penguin Parade because if by any chance a Penguin is scared because of the flash or anything related to camera it may not come out for hunting and will starve to death. They also informed about the directions probably in which the Penguins will move.

Finally after a long wait we saw a Penguin. Ah! It was so cute. It was looking like a small, tiny soft toy. It was in black and white and was standing at the shore for other mates. Later on we saw that there were Penguins coming to shore in groups. They were all coming together. This happened all along the shore.

Every where in our vicinity there were Penguins. One or two would come to the shore first and wait for the group. If the group is a bit late they also go back into the water to check their mates. Once the group forms they start moving towards the colonies. They walk in an absolute discipline. While watching them, it reminded me of my school days when teachers were tired telling us to walk in line but we hardly did that. But then the Penguins were not like that
at all. They walked from sea to the colony slowly and steadily in groups.

I overheard someone telling that the groups are made in such a manner that young girl penguins are kept inside to be protected. The outer line of the group is all male penguins. As they neared the colony there are a few Penguins which came out of the colony and met the group of Penguins. We thought it was a may be a kind of welcome. Once they reach the colonies the group is separated and individually all the penguins started moving towards their dwellings.

We saw atleast three such groups moving. There was one large group of penguins which we could not see as it was too far and also dark. It was a wonderful experience seeing the Penguins move in such peculiar manner. Later we came to know that the peculiarity of Penguins walk is because of lack of knees. It is absolutely natural but the way they move so perfectly in groups is such that we feel its instructed. May be it is instructed by nature.