Endangered Species Day

African Penguin by © Dan Callister/Penguins & Sharks

Today is an ideal opportunity to highlight the plight of the African penguin. Sadly the African penguin was listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN in October 2024. There are less than 10,000 breeding pairs left in the wild. This iconic species could be extinct within the next ten years.

In addition to competition with industrial small pelagic fishing for sardine and anchovy, African penguins face the threat of ship to ship bunkering. Bunkering involves the fuelling of ships at sea, which increases vessel traffic, leading to increased underwater noise levels, which disrupts Penguin foraging behaviour. Oil spills from this bunkering are a further danger. In Algoa Bay, ship to ship bunkering correlated with an 85% decline in the Bay’s African penguin population between 2016 and 2022. SANCCOB, Birdlife South Africa and the Biodiversity Law Centre are continuing the fight for the African penguin’s survival by advocating for legal and regulatory action to be taken in relation to ship to ship bunkering. Recent comments on the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment's draft bunkering regulations can be found here