July 08, 2019 Dyer Island Conservation Trust
Hotspots2C has for many years been a valuable tourism partner of Marine Dynamics. It is through this association that Hotspots2C began supporting the penguin nest project of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. This nest project has been operation since the inception of the Trust in 2006. The nests or penguin homes are addressing the critical chick stage by providing protection from predators and the elements. Penguins would normally burrow into their layers of built up guano, but this was historically removed and used as fertilizer. In fact, it was called white gold and was fought over in the early 1900s. Guano scraping stopped in the 80s but not before the substrate, usually metres high, was removed from all the penguin breeding colonies. Then we had millions of penguins. Our current 16000 breeding pairs left will never be able to recreate this natural breeding habitat.
The DICT is represented on the African Penguin Habitat Working Group and there is a currently a modified nest being rolled out that will address some heat issues evaluated over the years. Hotspots2C has bought a nest every month and is now a Platinum donor having sponsored 50 nests.
Now Hotspots2C is encouraging their guests to support the penguins, by changing their actions and funding the nest project or DICT’s flagship project, the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS).
Juanita Steyn of Hotspots2C is feeling positive about their 2CChange campaign ‘Say No to Plastic =Save a penguin’, “Posters that promote this campaign will be on our tour buses and we have also replaced plastic water bottles with a special labelled glass bottle promoting tips to avoid using plastic. Too much plastic is entering our ocean system and we believe encouraging our guests to change their behaviour can make a big difference.”
Wilfred Chivell, CEO of Marine Dynamics and founder of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, “None of our conservation and community work is possible without the support of our tourism partners. We are so grateful to Johan, Ferdi, Juanita and the team of Hotspots2C for their invaluable, and exceptional support and this great campaign.”
https://hotspots2c.co.za/change
Read more about the penguin nest project here
