"Hmm..I'm not quite sure"I deliberated as my friend appeared bemused. He had just asked me something I had never really pondered over. Well, he was curious to know who my favourite animal was. Without much care for a response, he gushed about how adorable and cute he found giant Pandas. It got me really thinking. I certainly knew who my spirit animal was - a squirrel but I wouldn't call it my favourite animal, would I? I was as animated as a squirrel and just like it seldom appeared at rest. I always took pride in identifying myself as a quick and nimble individual who was always ready for action each time my friends pulled my leg by pointing out how similar I was to a squirrel.
Is your spirit animal meant to be your favourite animal, I wasn't so sure. I was intrigued and this set me off on the quest for my 'favourite animal'.
I was lucky to be living in Australia where there was no dearth of animal species especially species unique and native to the country. Think of Australia and immediately Kangaroo springs to mind. It's hard to not fall for these adorable creatures once you see the joey peering into the wild from its mother's pouch. Just the sight can melt your heart and make your day. They are the crown jewel of the Australian wildlife and mind you this creature is capable of hopping right into your heart.
Then you have Koalas on the other hand colloquially referred to as the Koala bear. They are also marsupials and have the most envious routine. They can sleep up to eighteen hours a day and to say they are fastidious eaters would be an understatement. Personally, I'd give up anything for a life like that!
There are many others - Wallaby, Echidna, Wombat, Tasmanian Devil, Dingo amongst other native species in addition to the non-native species. The competition to be on the top of my list was getting fierce - it seemed impossible to zero in on a single animal. In an indecisive state, I watched several documentaries with David Attenborough's voice over in order to make an informed choice. My loyalty kept shifting as I soon realised how spoilt for choice I was. There was a plethora of stunning animals out there. I got reminded of what one of my college professions famously use to say- analysis, analysis PARALYSIS.
A month went by with the jury still out, so I decided to put this decision on hold in preparation for my parents' short visit to meet me. Touristy things began to consume my weekends. Their visit also timed well with an extended weekend and I soon found myself narrowing down on a good weekend getaway - I couldn't think of a better place my parents would enjoy than the Phillip island. This is an island southeast of Melbourne where I lived. I was fairly certain that my parents would love this place especially the parade of the Little Blue Penguins that took place every evening around dusk there. This is in fact, one of the few places in Australia where this species of penguins can be found.
Just for the uninitiated, penguins are a category of flightless birds with their wings, over years, having evolved into flippers for swimming. They are only found in the Southern hemisphere and there around seventeen species of these creatures in the world (scientists aren't really sure about the exact specie count yet). While only Little Penguins are found in Australia, all the other species reside in Antarctica.
In the lead up to witnessing this parade, I started researching about these creatures and I was fascinated with what I found. The most popular species of penguins are:-
- Emperor
- Chinstrap
- King
- Little Blue
- Macaroni
- Southern Rockhopper
- Crested
In fact, they are present in enormous numbers in the South Sandwich Islands like Zavodovski and South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
These are highly communal animal that like to stick around in herds in order to keep their predators at bay and also to protect themselves from the cold. They have an impressive camouflage - our Little Blue friends have dark blue feathers on the back to protect them their aerial predators when they are on water and white features on the front to protect them from their enemies inside water. During the courtship period, some species of penguins present the female with a pebble and the female accepts and adds it to her nest as a sign of reciprocation. Most penguins relationships are monogamous as they choose to mate with the partner they mated with in the previous breeding season, they even have a distinct call for their partner - surely they can teach humans a thing or two about romantic relationships! If this wasn't impressive enough, Emperor penguins have matriarchal colonies where traditional gender roles are reversed and child rearing is carried out by the males while females go out on food hunts while males incubate the eggs. Females are often on the lookout for chubbier males so they can survive without food for long until the female is back with food. I am not finished yet, Emperor penguins can even produce milk for the chicks, while they don't have mammary glands they have a hormone called prolactin that aids this milk production. Well it's really admirable (and a bit gross), the male regurgitates a curd like substance inside the mouth which the chick can relish a good meal by putting its break inside its father's mouth.
Penguins seemed like true rock stars. I couldn't wait to see the Little Blue Penguin in action now. The parade was to be witnessed at the Summerland Beach which had a good tiered arrangement to provide an expansive view of the water in order to see the Little Blue Penguins clearly. It was a full house with favorable weather conditions and the anticipated number that could be seen that day was close to 2000. The Little creatures spend most of their time at sea and return to their burrows in evenings to rest, breed and moult. They return in groups called rafts and waddle their way into their burrows. They seem to precisely remember their burrows and go back to the same one every evening. It was remarkable how much they were like humans in many ways.
Little Penguins can test you on your patience level. After having settled on the steps in their anticipation, I was surprised how slow time seemed to pass rather how long they were taking to come onshore. I was reminded of Indian weddings - you need to endlessly wait for the 'barat' (the groom's family) to arrive at the wedding venue for the marriage ceremonies where the bride's family waits with gusto. The wait can be exhausting. My parents started getting restless too, it was too cold for their liking and the Little Penguins were nowhere in sight, it had also started getting dark. Just when we stopped noticing, we saw a silhouette, it was difficult to tell whether it was a Little Penguin or a seagull. Then we noticed some more silhouettes coming onshore and huddling together - THEY were finally here! There was an uproar in the crowd - everyone seemed pleased. They didn't move just yet as they were waiting on their friends and calling onto them. Just when the raft seemed strong in number, they started waddling through the sand to head to their burrows. They were friendly creatures and didn't seem alarmed or thrown off by the large congregation. They waddled with panache and stopped intermittently to keep up with others. It was a beautiful sight - I instantly felt a connection with them. I knew it then. It has to be Penguins! My favourite animal (bird) - Penguin was on the top my list. I rejoiced at the thought, just when I had actively stopped looking for my favourite animal - it was right in front of me in plain sight.
"What you seek is seeking you" ~ Rumi
The latter half of the tour entailed playing hide and seek with the Little Penguins as we slowly walked back to the visitor centre via the boardwalk while they walked underneath emerging out every now and then from either sides while trying to make their way to their burrows. We got some real close up views - they were around a foot tall and had a wonky gait almost as if they were drunk on the sea water. They were endearing and I revelled in just being surrounded by them. Another fifteen minutes and we were back at the visitor centre - the show had come to an end. Everyone seemed happy especially my parents who really enjoyed themselves and later went on to say this was the highlight of their trip to Melbourne.
It made me sad to say goodbye to our Little friends but I felt euphoric at finally having found my favourite animal.
I rang my friend the next morning - "hey! It's Penguin" I said trying to contain my excitement."Yes, and I am an albatross"he replied, "now please let me sleep".
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