Stanley, North-West Tasmania – It’s just after sunset and tourists have gathered to see a popular wildlife attraction – penguins emerging from the ocean. Travelling from surf to sand is always a difficult journey for the penguins but in recent years another hazard has emerged to join the menace of dogs, cats and even traffic on roads adjoining penguin colonies. It is the mobile phone. A craze for “selfies” is riding the waves at tourist locations where the penguins are the drawcard
Volunteers at penguin viewing sites across the state are reporting ever-increasing incidents of penguins being harassed by both tourists and locals who are out for “likes’’ and “clicks” featuring the birds.
From Tatlows Beach at Stanley to Pirates Bay on the Tasman Peninsular come reports of penguins being chased across the rocks and sands, poked with sticks and hauled out of burrows. And there are fears that some colonies will collapse if penguins desert the sites under the pressure of harassment.
An evening spent at Stanley brought home the sometimes bizarre circumstances which have put the penguins under an unwelcome spotlight.
I joined a member of the Friends of Tatlow’s Penguins, Geraldine Coy, at Tatlow’s Beach as she undertook her nightly penguin patrol.
It was surprising to discover how close the penguins were as they came ashore.
“People just can’t resist photographing them. And the selfie is a real problem. People will try to pose with a penguin, going right up to them with their phones. It’s terrifying and harmful for the birds,” said Ms Coy.
Tatlows Beach presents a case study in the difficulties of promoting penguin tourism in the hope that public interest – and the tourist dollars it generates – might offer the penguins greater protection.
Where the diverse worlds of humankind and penguins inter-connect there is little room for manoeuvre. The penguins’ breeding colony is situated along a narrow strip of coastal scrub which adjoins the town’s main caravan park. A narrow path gives access through rock sea defences to the beach, reached by a series of steps. The path and the steps prove a popular highway for both penguins and humans.
Setting off on her patrol, Ms Coy surveyed several clusters of tourists who had gathered as the penguins emerged from the sea. A fierce, chilly wind blowing in off the ocean had cut the usual number of onlookers – which can reach up to 200 at the height of the penguin breeding season in summer – and so for once people management would not present a challenge.
“People love the penguins and generally are very well behaved. It’s just a few who are a problem and we try to explain how this eagerness can be a threat.”
“Yes, it’s not everybody but some tourists can be very difficult. People can even become aggressive if they feel we are restraining them, from getting too close to the birds.”
“Some tourists say we have no right to stop them. We don’t want to stop people, just keep them out of the way of the penguins.”
As she spoke, Ms Coy had to break off to ask a tourist not to stand on a stack of rocks, which was deterring penguins from coming ashore. A little later another tourist was spotted standing over a penguin, which cowered beneath him as he shone the powerful light of his mobile phone on it.
“It’s not just the large numbers of people who want to see the penguins who are the problem,” said Ms Coy, a tourist operator with a bed and breakfast establishment in the town. “The footpath presents a challenge in itself. Besides pedestrians we have skate-boarders, people on scooters and bikes, and dog walkers, of course. A big problem in recent times has been e-bikes. People come along at quite a speed and at night the penguins stand no chance.”
Ms Coy is one of a pool of eight volunteers who also patrol another penguin site, Godfreys Beach. The second beach presents less of a problem because it has a designated viewing platform raised above the rocks and sand where the penguins come ashore at night.
Wearing a fluorescent vest with “guide” printed on it, Ms Coy explains that the volunteers’ role is not just about providing security for the penguins. They are also educators. There is much to learn about the natural history of penguins, particularly the breeding cycle during which juvenile penguins not fully fledged are vulnerable while their parents are away fishing.
The baby penguins are susceptible to injury if handled, particularly around the neck. Also, because feathers that provide insulation are not fully formed, young penguins can suffer hyperthermia if taken from their burrows, as can adult penguins undergoing the annual moult in late summer.
During the summer several young penguins died while under rehabilitation.
The Stanley volunteers have called for an unobtrusive and modest fence to be placed at one vital point where the penguins climb a set of steps to reach burrows on the far side of the footpath. Erecting a picket fence, slightly raised off the ground to enable penguins to squeeze underneath it, would not block access to pedestrians coming from the caravan park, but would enable volunteers to have more effective crowd control.
Drawing up plans for the fence involves three parties, Parks and Wildlife, the Circular Head Council and Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) and it demonstrates the sensibilities involved when it comes to balancing wildlife protection with public access. The volunteers, though, are hopeful the limited scale of the fence will not meet serious opposition.
The Mercury reported last month that at Pirates Bay near Eaglehawk Neck penguins were also being harassed by tourists with mobile phones. Annie Giffard, who founded the Friends of Pirates Bay Penguins last year, said some photographers had opened burrows looking for chicks.
The colony had declined sharply, she added, with fewer than average sightings over the summer breeding season.
Across the penguin’s range on south-eastern Australia’s coastline, the population is stable but colony collapse can cause extirpation on a local level.
Together with disturbance and habitat loss, rising temperatures are also putting the penguins under pressure, creating sea-level rise and depletion of food supply.
Talking Point, The Mercury, 16th April, 2026.