The penguins lie in orderly, evenly spaced rows, wings splayed, their trademark glossy blue plumage dulled by sand. There are 183 in all, carefully collected by local people, laid out and photographed for later investigation. The birds were found at Ninety Mile Beach last week, just the latest in a phenomenon of dead penguins washing up on New Zealand’s beaches in huge numbers.
The kororā, also known as little blue penguins, are the world’s smallest penguin, and are native to New Zealand. They have been a common sight on northern coastlines, seen hopping up the dunes at dusk with their characteristic, slightly stooped waddle, however the Department of Conservation (DoC) classes their population as “at-risk, declining”.
