Trivia question for Oct-22-2011
Olivia and Carter had a chance to get up close and personal with some penguins this past summer when they were given a behind the scenes tour at the Tampa Aquarium. The tour was part of their continued educational program where they learn about all types of animals and which ones are endangered and what the main causes are for their situation etc. Ever since their tour, Olivia has had an infinity for penguins, check out her trivia. Their streamlined body allows them to dive 300-feet or more beneath the surface to catch krill (shrimp) and squid.
One of these penguins was named “Rocky” in the Bergen Aquarium in Norway, which lived to 29 years 4 months. It died in October 2003. This stands as the age record for this species of penguins, and possibly it was the oldest penguin known. Their breeding colonies are located from sea-level to cliff-tops and sometimes inland. Their breeding season starts in September and ends in November. Two eggs are laid but only one is usually incubated. Incubation lasts 35 days and their chicks are brooded for 26 days.
So here are Olivia’s questions: Tell us what kind of Penguin this is and tell us why millions of these birds were boiled in the late 1800s on the Falkland islands? Also, tell us how many penguin eggs each person on the remote Tristan da Cunhas islands eat each year?
Good Luck 😉
Answer:
Congratulations goes out to Natalie Borgardt for being the first with the correct answer. The distinguished penguin we featured is the Rockhopper Penguin. The rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into two or three species. Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins. Some consider all three as distinct species, some split the Western and Eastern forms into the Southern Rockhopper Penguin and keeping the Northern Rockhopper as distinct, while other experts lump all 3 calling it simply Rockhopper Penguin. The subspecies in the group are:
- Western Rockhopper Penguin
- Eastern Rockhopper Penguin
- Northern Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhoppers were once the center of a major oil industry on the Falkland Islands. in the late 1800s, millions of these birds were boiled to render their body-fat for oil extraction. It is estimated that residents of remote Tristan da Cunha eat about 146 rockhopper eggs per person per year. Here is more on these penguin. The link will take you to a page which lists a further link to information on all rockhopper species. Rockhopper Penguin
Thanks for playing along 😉
