Penguin cam: Kororā/little blue penguins at Timaru’s Caroline Bay to go live

They’re known for being shy, and are the smallest of their kind, but the kororā/little blue penguins at Timaru’s Caroline Bay are set to go big on the World Wide Web.

At Tuesday morning’s Timaru District Council community services committee meeting, councillors voted to grant $9965.92 towards the Lions Club of Timaru Suburban Charitable Trust’s Marine Parade Penguin Camera Project.

While they had some questions around the set-up of the project, and how it would be monitored, councillor and chairperson Stacey Scott said it would be a “really positive project’’ for the community.

The project aimed to instal a camera trained on the Caroline Bay penguin colony, meaning the birds could go about their lives without the interruption of human onlookers, and they could be viewed anywhere in the world via an online stream.

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Several years in the pipeline for the organisation, the funding news was welcomed by Timaru Suburban Lions immediate past president and Zone 3 chairperson Teressa May on Tuesday.

“We have a unique opportunity to educate the public, keep safe and showcase a rare species of penguins that have made their home in Caroline Bay,’’ she said.

It could also put Timaru on the map globally, May said.

And tourists who had travelled to the town to view the little blues could keep watching them after their return home.

The smallest penguin in the world at about 40 centimetres, the birds started arriving at Timaru’s coastline to breed an estimated 23 years ago, and had become a popular attraction at Caroline Bay during summer.

May said the Lions were approached in 2019 with a community concept to support a penguin camera project at the Bay.

The funding confirmation meant the project could now go from a “stand still approach’’ to “let’s get the project up and running in time for the next season’’, she said.

“As a Lions Club we support environmental and heritage causes.

“These penguins have a permanent colony on our beach, and every night there are crowds of interested locals and tourists who head down to the waterfront to witness a little blue miracle – the smallest penguins in the world, surfing ashore and waddling to their nests.’’

However those with mobility restrictions and unable to leave home missed out on the opportunity, she said.

“So we thought about putting up a camera, to be watched from the safety of devices.”

The viewing would also provide an education opportunity on the birds, she said.

The project was being managed by the Lions, in association with PrimePort Timaru, Allied Alarms and other funders as necessary.

While the project was not associated with either of the town’s penguin groups, both were aware of it, she said.

Other towns in New Zealand have a similar opportunity to showcase furry visitors to their area and had live stream footage that peopled viewed.

The camera would be securely mounted on a light pole at the port, and not publicly accessible.

It would be set up to only show the penguin area, and there would be no viewing of roadway, footpath, or wider aspects of the beach, she said.

“It will only show the areas that the penguins roam and play.’’

A 2020 Lions Club raffle raised $1400 for the project, with the request to the council for final amount required for the purchase of the camera.

Any other funding needs would be met through further applications or from community projects the Timaru Suburban Lions Club was involved in.

The group said, at this stage, no further funding was needed for the project to go ahead.

Other grants approved at the meeting included $5000 towards the purchase of a signwritten gazebo for Timaru’s Cardiac Kids, and $3400 towards the FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest.