From September to March, every evening around dusk, little (fairy) penguins noisily waddle around Parsonage Point on the western end of West Beach in Burnie to nest in their igloolike burrows. And each evening during the season, volunteers from Friends of Burnie Penguins come to watch the show and offer free talks and interpretative tours to share their knowledge along with fun facts about these adorable creatures—the smallest of all penguins—like how they can dive nearly 100 feet down, and only sleep for four minutes at a time. Little penguins don’t migrate, so this is Burnie’s home colony, which the Friends have gotten to know well and love over the years. That much is obvious.
Dan Fellow/Tourism Tasmania
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Pick up a Penguin
As you walk along the West Beach boardwalk, you might notice some strange mounds in the vegetation at the top of the beach. These concrete igloos are artificial habitats for the little blue penguins that waddle ashore at dusk, part of a conservation project to restore the quality of the environment around Burnie. The Penguin Observation Centre at the western end of the beach has a wealth of information about penguins.
