Landau June 14, 2025. The care of injured and sick wild animals is also a problem in Chile. There is neither a sustainable infrastructure nor financial regulations for their rehabilitation. Sernapesca, the state fisheries authority, is responsible for the recovery of injured and sick marine animals, but not for their care. There used to be a rescue center for marine animals at the “Museum of Natural History and History” in San Antonio, Central Region. José Brito and their staff did good and dedicated work there for many years. Sphenisco has repeatedly supported this work, for example by purchasing medicines. Some time ago, this station was closed. The reasons are not known to Sphenisco.

Landau, 3rd of June 2025.

Under the title “Creating and strengthening protected areas for the Humboldt penguin on the central coast of Peru” (1), Acorema (2) reports on its activities in the period from April 2023 to December 2024 (link to the original Spanish PDF). The NGO provides information about the diverse educational measures during this period and, with the help of many photos and small videos, takes the reader into classrooms, beaches and places in Peru. Since 2010, Sphenisco has repeatedly commissioned Acorema with environmental education measures, thus enabling continuous work in southern Peru. In January, a new contract was signed for the years 2025 to early 2027.

Landau, 1st of June
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+++Population of Humboldt penguins+++
The last three breeding seasons have been cancelled due to a lack of food. El Niño and bird flu have reduced the Humboldt penguin population (see article ‘El Niño and ...’ from 25th of February 2025). It is only unclear how great the losses are. On 26th of May, researchers led by Dr Alexandro Simeone began to count breeding pairs again on the island of Pan de Azucar (1). Further counts are planned for June on the islands of Grande de Atacama, Ramada and Chañaral. In addition, GPS loggers and video cameras will again be used to investigate foraging behaviour on the islands of Choros and Chachagua, where breeding pairs will also be counted. Further counts are to be carried out on other important Chilean gross islands in October and November. The six-year research project is being funded by the Species Conservation Foundation of Karlsruhe Zoo, Dresden Zoo and the Hagenbeck Zoo Friends' Association. 

La Serena, Landau, May 27, 2025: At the end of last year, the Chilean government declared the Humboldt Archipelago an “Área de Conservación de Múltiples Usos - AC-MU (2). The marine and coastal protection zone covers around 574,873 hectares and is located off the coast of the municipality of Freirina, Atacama region, and the municipalities of La Higuera and La Serena, Coquimbo region. The declaration of the protected zone aims to protect a marine ecosystem in central Chile with its biodiversity, habitats, ecological processes and ecosystem services. The declaration defines not only rare marine animals and islands as worthy of protection, but also the characteristic marine upwelling systems and artisanal fishing. However, the decree also stipulates that the marine protected area and the management plan should not have any impact on freedom of navigation and anchorages, insofar as these affect international obligations that Chile has entered into. The AC-MU (2) is under the supervision of the Ministry of the Environment. All activities carried out in the future must be compatible with the conservation objectives of the area and comply with the provisions of the respective management plan.

Landau, 7th of April 2025

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+++Sphenisco Chile+++
Sphenisco Chile is focusing its work this year on citizen participation in the design of the Humboldt Archipelago Marine Protected Area. Nancy Duman's team will hold audiences with all the new regional and municipal authorities in the municipalities of La Higuera, Coquimbo, Freirina, La Serena, as well as the governors and environmental advisors in the regions of Atacama and Coquimbo. During the talks, the employees will advocate for the protection of the archipelago and its sustainable use. In addition to ongoing advocacy, the team plans to repeat the successful literary competition “the Humboldt Archipelago in 110 words” and continue the Sintonía Humboldt video podcast. The following projects are also to be realized:
- “Humboldt Penguins in the Neighborhood” (murals in villages),
- Humboldt Archipelago” traveling photo exhibition in the communities of La Higuera and Coquimbo,
- Organization of natural history hikes,
- the establishment of information points in the village of Chungungo and near Yerba buena.

Landau, 22th of February 2025

Preliminary remark
On 8th of January 2025, the Committee of Ministers of the Boric government once again rejected the Dominga mining and port project (see article from 12 January on these pages). As announced, the owner of the project, the company Andes Iron, has lodged an appeal against the decision.

Landau, 06th of February 2025

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+++Research on the island of Cachagua, Chile+++
From 30 November to 8 December 2024, the radius of action and diving behaviour of breeding Humboldt penguins were studied using GPS dive data loggers on the island of Cachagua, Chile. The work planned for this breeding period on the island of Choros (Humboldt Penguin National Reserve) had to be postponed due to the lack of breeding birds (see ‘Preliminary report on ...’ on these pages).

Burnie, Nuremberg, 06. January 2025

Almost a year ago, we reported for the first time about "Penguin Rehab & Release", a sanctuary for penguins (and other seabirds) in Burnie, Tasmania: (Pygmy) Penguins Need Your Help!

Landau, Dezember 8, 2024

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+++Winners of the literary competition at the feminist book fair+++
The winners of the literary competition “Humboldt Archipelago with 110 Words” presented their prize-winning stories at the 5th Feminist Book Fair in La Serena and met with great response.

The book fair was organized by the feminist book network of the Coquimbo region and took place on 4 October in the San Francisco square in La Serena. At twelve stands, book and music publishers presented their products, organized author rounds and - as mentioned - offered space for the works of the winners of the “Humboldt Archipelago in 110 Words” competition to be presented. Nancy Duman from Sphenisco-Chile completed the presentations with a report on the process and significance of the competition.