Latest news with #Magellanic
Daily Maverick
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
Wrong penguin, right wing: The Full Monty director casts accidental bird in botched pic of Argentine coup
The film has been reviewed by some of the world's largest news outlets — and it seems just about no one has noticed the species switch. The Penguin Lessons — a film inspired by an English teacher saving an oil-soaked Magellanic penguin in 1970s Argentina — has managed to do something remarkable. It cast the wrong bird. In the latest cinematic case of 'close enough', not just any wrong penguin. A representative of a seriously threatened species. From the other side of the South American continent. The penguin starring alongside the Oscar-nominated Steve Coogan is, beyond a shadow of a biological doubt, a Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) — not the native Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) central to the real-life memoir on which the film is based. The evidence? Impeccable. The Humboldt's single black breast band, rather than the Magellanic's double black band— as spotted by Daily Maverick's Biological Investigation and Regional Discrepancy Specialists (BIRDS). Unlike the Magellanic penguin, the Humboldt's bill is surrounded by pink flesh. To ensure we weren't hallucinating, we consulted a seabird expert — who asked not to be named, citing professional constraints, institutional discretion and a deep desire not to get dragged into a penguin controversy on their lunch break. 'Errmerrrgerrrrd,' they replied to BIRDS' bewildered WhatsApp. 'No, you're not hallucinating … What the actual f**k.' Somewhere, David Attenborough is quietly screaming into a pillow. A tale of one misplaced penguin The real 'Juan Salvador', the penguin from Tom Michell's 2016 memoir, was a Magellanic penguin rescued from the horrors of an oil spill in Uruguay, just above coastal Argentina. In adapting the memoir, this Sony Pictures Classics film may have opted for historical charm and emotional uplift, but missed geographic and taxonomic accuracy entirely. The Magellanic penguin mostly hails from Argentina, southern Chile and islands. The Humboldt penguin basically hails from Peru and north and central Chile. Unless transcontinental cosplay is an evolutionary strategy, the species may share only a tiny overlap. You might as well cast a black rhino (hook-lipped, critically endangered) to masquerade as a white rhino (broad-lipped, near-threatened). And hedge your bets no one will care. The not-so-funny drama to save a species But the penguin switcheroo, por que? It raises some troubling conservation and education questions. Take Magellanic penguins, of which there are between 2.2 million and 3.2 million individuals in the wild. Unsurprisingly, the IUCN Red List — the gold standard of threatened species — classifies it as 'least concern' but declining. Last assessed as vulnerable in 2020, the Humboldt, on the other hand, is in big trouble. Its numbers have plunged by about 10,000 individuals in just a few years. Today, there are probably no more than 23,800 left. Seen in perspective, Humboldts aren't much more numerous than the world's most threatened penguin — the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), of which only 19,800 remain. The IUCN classified the African penguin as critically endangered in 2024 and it's identified by only a slightly thinner breast band than the Humboldt. The African version looks so much like its Humboldt counterpart that even experts could get tripped up thinking The Penguin Lessons stars the world's most imperilled penguin. Parading an endangered species in a film as one that is of least concern could — conceivably — make it seem far more common than it is. When fact-checking fails, feathers fly If Hollywood can CGI a talking raccoon into a galaxy-saving hero, should it be able to tell one penguin from another — or try? Daily Maverick asked a few more seabird specialists. BIRDS can confirm that Juan Salvador was not portrayed by an African penguin. At least, that's what Dr Alistair McInnes, BirdLife South Africa's seabird conservation programme manager, thinks. 'Based on the extensive amount of pink at the base of the bill, it looks like a Humboldt penguin,' said McInnes. The smoking gun came from an actual Humboldt penguinologist. 'I looked at the link you sent me and… it is… 100%… 1,000% a nice, cute Humboldt penguin. So, you are right!' Dr Alejandro Simeone, a Humboldt penguin expert at Andrés Bello University in Chile, wrote by email. 'If the movie is based in Argentina, it should be a Magellanic.' But then the nuts and bolts of science may not always be what makes Oscar-nominated director Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) tick. In a YouTube interview with the good people of Bafta, Cattaneo highlighted his animal handler's penchant for zooming off in a prepacked van and saving penguins' lives. You know, 'if there's actually ever an oil spill, or something similar, anywhere in Northern Europe'. At this point, memoir author Tom Michell was perched next to Cattaneo. And he was paying attention. ' But,' the stony-faced author interjected, 'there aren't any penguins in Northern Europe?' Cattaneo corrected himself by saying he was talking about sea lions. BIRDS consulted our sea lion sister bureau, the Biological Assessment of Regional Know-Names (BARK), which confirms what we suspected: that Northern Europe doesn't have any wild sea lions. Margaret, the Magellanics and the ghosts of geography The Penguin Lessons is set against the fall of Argentina's 1976 Peronist government which makes way for the brutal military dictatorship known as the National Reorganisation Process. The movie does not have anything to do with the Argentine/UK war over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands, which unfolded a few years later in 1982. But it's instructive to think that the penguin film is set in a time that leads to the junta's unsuccessful campaign to reclaim the Falklands/Malvinas. Margaret Thatcher, of course, responded with force, retaining an iron grip on one of the world's largest breeding colonies of Magellanic penguins. Javier Milei, Argentina's chainsaw-wielding president, probably still thinks London owes Buenos Aires a lot of penguins. Lima and Santiago — Humboldt penguin central — would back Milei on this one. So, reenacting the logic of taking what suits the narrative, even where it may not belong, is a possible geopolitical humdinger that an English film about an Argentine coup wants to avoid. But why use the wrong penguin? According to Christina Hagen, Pamela Isdell fellow of penguin conservation at BirdLife South Africa, 'there is quite a big population of Humboldts and other banded penguins in captivity. As long as they followed animal welfare regulations for animals in movies, it wouldn't affect the wild population.' In an odd real-life plot twist, My Penguin Friend is also a new film about a Magellanic penguin rescued from an oil spill who befriends a human in need of help. Yes, you can't make this stuff up. Starring Jean Reno (La Femme Nikita), the 2024 production used 10 rescued Magellanic penguins from Brazil's Ubatuba Aquarium to portray the penguin lead. This film's easy-to-find press notes not only declare extensive details about the penguin actors' rescue origins, they also tell an educational story of what threatens their wild counterparts — stuff like oil spills, ocean trash, guano mining and overfishing. In other words, if a journalist gets it wrong, it's on them. BIRDS could not find evidence that The Penguin Lessons — which has netted reviews in BBC Wildlife Magazine, The Guardian, The New York Times and more — followed the same transparency policy. If anything, none of these reviews reported the filmmakers' unusual species choice. So, we went to the filmmakers. The film's South African reps told us that the film employed six penguin actors to play the lead. As penguins are social creatures, each penguin had a penguin boyfriend or girlfriend on set. The American Humane Society, they pointed out, monitored the 12 penguins' welfare. Answers were not received within 48 hours by 1o.30am on Thursday clarifying the film's casting choice. We also did not receive information on whether the penguins were sourced from licensed, captive environments. Were production credits and press materials updated to reflect the correct species and their origin? No answers were received from Sony Pictures Classics to our repeated requests for access to password-protected press materials, first sent on 5 May. Ster Kinekor, which has aired the film in South Africa in recent weeks, responded promptly with press notes. But these did not acknowledge the species switch, either. The real cautionary tale? It's worth the reminder that Tom Michell, the real-life teacher, got the Magellanic penguin right in his own memoir — devoting extensive passages to its conservation status and biological behaviour. In an interview with the blog Honest Mum, Michell has also revealed that most of the film was, in fact, 'real Humboldt penguin footage' — that is, where animatronic penguins weren't used to film more demanding sequences. The error lies not with the young traveller-turned-environmentalist who lived a heartfelt story, and recounted it in a nuanced conservation narrative, but the production team who retold it. And yet, The Penguin Lessons achieves its aim as lite escapism about cross-species friendship during political turbulence. Apart from an unseeable species faux pas, it's good at communicating humanity's careless footprint to a general audience. It demonstrates the therapeutic value of the natural world. This was a tale worth retelling — with the right penguin. DM
NDTV
25-04-2025
- NDTV
8 Incredible Places To See Penguins In The Wild
Let's be honest — penguins are the real rockstars of the animal kingdom. They've got the looks, the personality, and that wobbly walk we just can't get enough of. And while it's easy to admire them from behind glass at an aquarium, the real thrill lies in seeing them out in the wild, doing their thing — whether that's nesting, swimming or squabbling with their neighbours. From the ice fields of Antarctica to the beaches of Australia, here are eight brilliant places where you can watch penguins in their natural habitat, plus when to go for peak penguin action. Here Are 8 Best Spots To See Penguins: 1. Boulders Beach, Simon's Town - South Africa This is hands down one of the most accessible and Instagram-friendly penguin spots on the planet. Just a 45-minute drive from Cape Town, Boulders Beach is home to a colony of endangered African penguins that live among giant granite boulders — and yes, they hang out on the actual beach. Don't miss the wooden boardwalk through the penguin nesting area at Foxy Beach for up-close views. Best time to visit: March to May or September to November for pleasant weather and fewer crowds. Breeding starts in February. Top species: African penguin 2. Aitcho Islands, Antarctic Peninsula - Antarctica This small island group is one of the most popular stops on Antarctic cruises. During the summer months, the beaches are packed with Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins. It's raw, remote and wildly photogenic. Wondering how to go? Expedition cruises from Ushuaia usually include Aitcho on their itinerary. Best time to visit: December to January for chicks and longer daylight hours. Top species: Gentoo, Chinstrap 3. St Andrews Bay, South Georgia Island - South Atlantic Ocean St Andrews Bay looks like a scene straight out of a BBC nature doc. This remote, windswept bay hosts one of the largest King penguin colonies in the world — with upwards of 150,000 breeding pairs. The noise of this colony can be heard long before you arrive. Best time to visit: December to February for peak numbers and fluffy chicks. Top species: King penguin 4. Punta Tombo, Chubut Province - Argentina This is the largest Magellanic penguin colony in South America. Located along the Patagonian coast, Punta Tombo is home to over a million penguins during the breeding season — and they are everywhere. The 2.5-hour drive from Puerto Madryn is quite scenic. Best time to visit: September to March, with November being peak nesting time. Top species: Magellanic penguin New Zealand. Photo: iStock 5. Otago Peninsula, Dunedin - New Zealand For a more intimate penguin encounter, head to the Otago Peninsula. It's one of the best spots to see the rare Yellow-eyed penguin, which is super shy and seriously endangered. Take a guided tour from the Royal Albatross Centre for the best chance of sightings. Best time to visit: October to February for breeding season. Top species: Yellow-eyed penguin, Little Blue penguin 6. Phillip Island, Victoria - Australia Every night at sunset, hundreds of Little Blue penguins come ashore in what's known as the "Penguin Parade." It's a surprisingly moving sight — and Phillip Island is just two hours from Melbourne. Pro tip: Book a ranger-guided tour for front-row seats. Best time to visit: Year-round, but summer (December to February) sees the biggest parades. Top species: Little Blue penguin 7. Isabela Island, Galapagos - Ecuador The Galapagos penguin is the only one that lives north of the equator, and the western coast of Isabela Island is your best bet for spotting them. They often hang out on lava rocks or swim right past snorkellers. You might also spot sea lions, marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies. Best time to visit: July to November, when the Humboldt Current brings cooler waters. Top species: Galapagos penguin 8. Volunteer Point, East Falkland - Falkland Islands If you're after King penguins without heading all the way to Antarctica, Volunteer Point is a must. Located on East Falkland, it's home to around 1,500 breeding pairs, and the beachside backdrop makes it feel surreal. It's a 2.5-hour off-road drive from Stanley, but worth every bump. Best time to visit: Late November to early February for chicks and warmer weather. Top species: King, Gentoo, Magellanic
Times
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The Friend review — a warm, witty story about grief and a Great Dane
It's strange to cheer the glaring absences in a movie, yet part of the slick narrative accomplishment of this 'quirky animal adventure' is its refusal to obey the rules. This is a film about a resentful human who reluctantly adopts a difficult animal but slowly learns to find emotional meaning and philosophical significance in the beast, leading to personal growth and self-actualisation. You've seen it countless times before, with Richard Gere and a devoted akita in Hachi: A Dog's Tale, or Anna Paquin and motherless geese in Fly Away Home, or even Steve Coogan and a Magellanic penguin in last week's The Penguin Lessons. The Friend, however, is the same but gloriously different. The animal here is a Great Dane called
Otago Daily Times
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Encounter with scene-stealing penguin
THE PENGUIN LESSONS Director: Peter Cattaneo (M) ★★★+ There was a story on RNZ last weekend about dogs' eyebrows; apparently, they've evolved to facilitate the manipulation of humans. To us, it looks like the canine is having a melancholic moment so we rush in with the affection and chewy treats. It's all projection. A similar sort of thing plays out in The Penguin Lessons, a simultaneously charming and timely film, wherein various of the human characters project an empathy for their issues on to the inscrutable bird of the title. Steve Coogan is a disengaged peripatetic English teacher, a spent force in the classroom, hired by an exclusive school in Argentina — just as the generals take power again in the 1976 coup. He intends a quiet expat idyll but enter the scene-stealing penguin — and the regime's goons — and things turn out otherwise. Initially, Coogan's character saves the penguin, but could it be that, ultimately, it's the penguin doing the saving? The Magellanic penguin, Juan Salvador, is in fact played by several penguins, and this is crucial. Time and again the bird seems to be following the director's instructions to the letter. But as recorded by the Hollywood press, this was achieved as a result of the penguin breed's close couple bonding. When one of the pair on set was gently but strategically transported to the far end of a room, the other would soon waddle over. And, cut. No doubt, a measure of patience was required of the human cast, and that seems to have spilled over into Cattaneo's (The Full Monty) storytelling, which is allowed to unfold in its own good time. As the far right lunges for power in these the sunset years of the western hegemony, The Penguin Lessons does a nice job of revealing the grubby, fear-mongering ignorance of desperate authoritarianism, without labouring the point. There is, of course, no sophistication to uncover there. So, both inside the gates of the school and outside, the regimes are all about demanding silence and subservience in the interests of the already powerful. Coogan delivers a nicely understated performance as the world-weary teacher, while the supporting cast does its best to pinch the odd scene back from Juan Salvador. Bjorn Gustafsson is a hoot as a jilted Finnish science teacher and Vivian El Jaber is a trick as one of the school's housekeepers.
National Geographic
17-04-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
What the ‘trash heap' penguins of Argentina are teaching us about survival
For more than 60 million years, penguins of all kinds—including the opportunistic Magellanic penguin—have been driven by an evolutionary urge to reach beyond their boundaries. Today, many are surfacing in the most unlikely places. DIVING DEEP Chinstrap and gentoo penguins, shown here near Danco Island in Antarctica, regularly plunge to depths of over 100 feet on foraging runs. PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID DOUBILET, National Geographic Image Collection When Pablo 'Popi' Borboroglu first visited a remote stretch of shoreline along the eastern coast of Patagonia, in 2008, the National Geographic Explorer was surprised to find penguins making a home there. The Argentine biologist was responding to a call from a nearby rancher who had seen several of the flightless birds on his property. When he arrived, Borboroglu found trash, broken glass, abandoned cars, and burned-out campfires on the ground. 'The place was a disaster,' he recalls. 'It was full of garbage.' Amid the squalor, however, under bushes and in small, cavelike burrows, he discovered something astonishing: 12 Magellanic penguins living among the debris. Each seabird was about one and a half feet tall, with a distinctive white band encircling its eyes and neck. While Magellanic penguins are known to breed in and around South America on rocky, sandy beaches before migrating each winter to the open ocean as far north as Brazil and Peru, the nearest established colony was located more than 80 miles south. Yet these intrepid travelers had arrived and coupled up, a sign that they were breeding on a beach teeming with hazards. The brown down feathers of king penguin chicks, seen here at Good Hope Bay on Marion Island, in the southern Indian Ocean, aren't waterproof, but the added insulation helps protect the birds from the cold until they molt around 10 months, when their sleek black and white feathers come in. PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS PESCHAK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION Borboroglu worked quickly, assessing the condition of the colony and freeing one bird that was entangled in plastic, and began the longer process of painstakingly cleaning and securing the area. The emerging colony not only survived but raised chicks, returning the next spring. Scientists have various theories as to why a so-called founder group like this ventures beyond familiar nesting grounds. But for Borboroglu, who went on to create the Global Penguin Society, an international conservation group, the new colony exemplifies the adaptability and resilience of all 18 penguin species, which inhabit some of nature's harshest environments, even as they continue to face new challenges in our changing world. 'They are so brave and determined,' he says of penguins as a whole. 'They're amazing.' A Galápagos penguin swims alongside a green sea turtle and a marine iguana in the cool, clear water near Fernandina Island. PHOTOGRAPH BY TUI DE ROY, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY Penguins are indeed amazing creatures. Their comical waddle, tuxedo-like appearance, and endearing parental instincts make them quintessential conservation icons. But these same characteristics also point to some of the ways they've evolved to confront extreme conditions with remarkable adaptability and grit. The first penguins appeared roughly 60 million years ago on what is now New Zealand. Some scientists believe the absence of natural predators allowed the birds to evolve away from flight and toward more agility in the ocean. Over time, they developed ample stores of fat and a dense, impermeable layer of feathers to withstand the cold; stunted wings serving as flippers to propel them underwater with stunning speed and efficiency; and distinctive black-and-white feather patterns to confuse predators. Early penguins rode the currents across oceans, adapting to the new places where they landed. Emperor and Adélie penguins, for instance, settled in the unforgiving climate of Antarctica, and they have a thicker layer of body fat, scalelike feathers, and clawlike feet especially suited to gain traction on the ice. Galápagos penguins ended up on a chain of islands off the coast of Ecuador, becoming the only species found at the Equator. They now have smaller frames and thinner layers of plumage, which serve them well in the warmer climate. Historically, Magellanic penguins lived on islands off the coast of South America, but after sheep ranchers eradicated mainland predators such as pumas and foxes, the birds established colonies there too. 'Penguins vote with their feet,' says National Geographic Explorer Dee Boersma, a renowned penguin expert at the University of Washington. 'They go where the food is.' But no matter how far they roam, many of the animals now face the same issues. About half the world's penguins are threatened with extinction, and last year the African penguin became the first to be classified as critically endangered. Today the threats come from sea and land alike. In the ocean, penguins must run a gauntlet of oil spills, algal blooms, fishing nets, and plastic pollution while warming waters and overfishing deplete their prey. On shore, where penguins mate and raise their chicks, they encounter hazards ranging from declining Antarctic sea ice to coastal development and introduced or resurgent predators. Over the past century, as penguin numbers faltered, the global conservation community and individual nations moved to safeguard the birds, banning egg harvesting and creating protected areas, allowing embattled populations a chance at continued survival. In the years since, conservationists like Borboroglu and Boersma have lobbied to create more protected areas for nesting and regulate shipping routes to reduce penguins' potential exposure to oil spills. From scuba diving to set-jetting (How a penguin "massacre" led to historic new protections in Argentina.) Royal penguins, named for yellow plumes resembling crowns, are native to the Southern Ocean's Macquarie Island, where they live in large colonies, boosting their chances of finding a mate. Groupings have upwards of 500,000 breeding pairs. PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG GIMESY, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY One startling finding among scientists is that penguins are no longer evolving as fast, limiting their ability to keep pace with the world around them. A recent study showed that penguins now have the slowest evolutionary rates of all birds. Still, some appear adept at leveraging their best traits and behaviors to continue pressing into new territory. Researchers have discovered that emperor penguin colonies relocate when sea ice in one area is no longer reliable, and satellite imagery recently revealed previously unknown colonies in Antarctica. Meanwhile, king penguins, smaller cousins to the emperors, are in decline in some of their habitat but rebounding in other places, after decades of being harvested for oil. And gentoos, closely related to Adélies, are following available food as the Southern Ocean warms and sea ice clears, allowing them to more easily hunt and nest in new areas of the Antarctic Peninsula. 'We're seeing new colonies established further and further south,' says Gemma Clucas, a researcher with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The handful of Magellanic penguins that once popped up on the trash-strewn beach in Patagonia appear to have inspired others to settle in the colony. As Borboroglu worked with landowners and the local government to create a 35,000-acre wildlife refuge, more and more penguins arrived each year. Over 8,000 penguins now nest here. 'Its growth has been remarkable,' he says. 'It shows that nature can thrive if given a chance.' See more on Popi Borboroglu and his conservation work in National Geographic's upcoming series "Secrets of the Penguins", streaming April 21 on Disney+ and Hulu. A version of this story appears in the May 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine. Hannah Nordhaus, a Boulder-based National Geographic Explorer, has written for outlets such as Scientific American and Smithsonian. In last month's magazine she wrote about imperiled sturgeons. The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, funded Explorer Pablo Borborgolu's work. Learn more about the Society's support of Explorers.
