Little penguins and seabird rescue talk to be held

The Little Penguins at Lion Island will be part of a talk about seabirds at the Marine Discovery Centre

A talk on little penguins and seabird rescue will be held at the Marine Discovery Centre, Terrigal, on Wednesday, September 23.

The two guest speakers will be Dr Sandra Vardeh, University of NSW and Ms Kathie Stubbs, Australian Seabird Rescue Central Coast coordinator, rehabber and rescuer.

They will discuss penguin biology, research of the Lion Island little penguin colony, current threats to the penguins and other local sea birds, what is being done to protect them and how you can help.

Ms Vardeh was originally from Germany and was drawn to Australia by her fascination with the little penguins. She has been studying the breeding colony on Lion Island (off Pearl Beach) since 2012.

She is a founding member of the Society for Conservation Biology and is dedicated to protecting marine life. Ms Stubbs said Australian Seabird Rescue Central Coast was launched 10 years ago.

Their main clientele continues to be Pelicans, but they also rescue and rehabilitate all water birds, sea birds, shore birds and the occasional sea turtle.

According to Ms Stubbs, sea birds are under threat from marine debris, boats, accidents etc and there are things everyone can do to protect them.

Email, Sep 20, 2015
Kate Smellie, Central
Coast Marine Rescue Centre