To get to the other side

Natural History, April, 1998 by Judy Rice

Although they are most at home in the sea, penguins must come ashore annually to mate, nest, and raise their young. Jackass penguins, named for the raucous, braying quality of their call, do so on the coast of South Africa, Namibia, and nearby islets, usually in the austral winter, and usually in more natural sites. In Simonstown, the birds can be seen gamely making use of side roads as the easiest route between their nests and the sea, where adults must go daily to fish. Some construct their rudimentary nests and burrows in the open space afforded by private gardens, perhaps given some leeway until home owners discover that concentrated penguin guano destroys, rather than fertilizers, vegetation. Periodically, both residents and penguins must deal with incursions of tourists.

The temptation to make contact with the birds is best avoided. Wildlife biologists Yolanda van Heezik and Philip Seddon spent five months studying the penguins on Dassen Island, a reserve off the South African coast, and have the scars to prove it; one bird tore a strip of flesh from van Heezik's face. Photographer Wolfgang Kaehler noted no humans physically meddling with the penguins but has experienced ?? himself. In Antarctica, he was once unprovokedly attacked and beaten about the knees by an Adelie penguin wielding its beak and flippers.