Various questions were asked, what hobbies do you do? ; do you see penguins everyday? ; how do you travel to school? One of the most unusual questions asked was ‘Do you eat penguin eggs and how do they taste?’ The answer was ‘Yes’ from some of the children but a resounding ‘No’ from the teacher! The teacher explained that in the past it was done but now for conservation reasons the penguin eggs should not be taken and eaten. Although she did go on to describe that in penguin eggs the yolk is pink and the ‘white’ remains clear even after cooking.

On the 9^th and 10^th June 2009, the Falkland Island School Linking Project held its finale for the Primary and Secondary schools.

Representatives from the schools involved came to Edinburgh Zoo where we had various activities throughout the day including making penguin enrichment, interactive stories of life and culture of the Falklands and children performing their own interpretation of Scottish life!

Penguin enrichment

Polly

The pupils are enjoying learning about the Falkland Islands and completing the animal distribution jigsaw map.

Photos : Ailsa Seatter, Teacher Papa Westray.

Sandie

Then we took the Islander plane to Papa Westray. The flight was just about 12 minutes!

Papa Westray is a small island west of Westray. Westray is the largest of the north islands of Orkney.

Papa Westray is only 4 miles long and 1 mile wide but although small it is a beautiful island with cliffs, sandy beaches, farmland and lochs.

Sandie

We are travelling around Orkney from 20th April until 26th April. As we will only have limited internet access you will have to wait until our return back to Edinburgh Zoo to catch up on what we did and saw in Orkney, so watch this space!

Polly

Incubation of the single egg takes about 2 months and it takes the chicks 16-17 weeks until they are ready to leave the nest and head out to sea. They will not return to lay an egg of their own until they are about 7 years old. They can go on breeding with the same mate until they are about 35 years.

Sixty percent of all Black-browed albatrosses breed on the Falkland Islands. So, these islands (including Saunders Island) are of international importance for this bird species.

Unfortunately many albatrosses worldwide are becoming victims of  longline fishing while looking for food to feed their chick. They become caught on baited fishing hooks and drown. This can spell disaster not only for the parent bird, but for the chick left behind. Learn more about albatrosses at this website:

http://www.savethealbatross.net/

The adults make these strange looking nests (pictured above left),  from mud and shape them with their bills. I observed two individuals making repairs to their nests by patting the outsides of the nest with new mud using the side of their bill.

Polly

In some areas there were mixed species colonies, where rockhopper penguins, albatrosses and king cormorants would all be nesting next door to each other. Not many squabbles would occur, but any that did would inevitably involve the Rockhoppers – the noisiest and most boisterous species.

Polly

After spending 2 nights at the Neck, I moved to another isolated area of the island called the Rookery. This is so called due to the amount of nesting albatrosses that are to be found on this north coast of the island.

There is only one species of albatross that breeds on the Falkland Islands. This is the Black-browed albatross; so called due to the very pretty black brows that this species have when they are adults. I was lucky to be on the island during the breeding season, so  there were plenty of fluffy, hungry, big chicks waiting for their parents to return with squid. This photo shows mainly big grey chicks, but also a couple of adults in the background.

Polly