Pearl the rare white penguin found in SA is "not out of the woods yet"

A rare white penguin was found in poor condition on a South Australian beach. Here’s what we know.

Yesterday, an adorable creature now known as Pearl the penguin washed up in a debilitated state on Boomer Beach along South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. While the occasional Little Penguin, like Pearl, is known to be washed up in this area in a sorry state, what makes Pearl so special is her extremely rare white colour, or leucistic condition.

“It’s a genetic mutation; it’s just random chance,” explained Justin Biddle, Wildlife Centre Manager at Wildlife Welfare Organisation (SA) Inc (WWO).

Although it’s very rare to spot a leucistic penguin, Biddle is fairly sure it’s not the first for the state.

“I have heard there’s been another [leucistic penguin] in South Australia, in 2011. It was rehabilitated by another rescue group, but they have since disbanded.”

Pearl was taken in and cleaned up by WWO. (Image: Justin Biddle)

What was wrong with Pearl the penguin?

While Biddle says it was clear Pearl was in a bad way, it’s unclear exactly what led to it.

“She’s just had a bit of a rough go,” he said. “She was struggling to fish and find food and was quite debilitated. She might have had a minor injury at some point that has prohibited her from hunting so well. We have wormed her… so she might have quite a high parasite load as well.”

“Usually, it’s a crossover of different factors that causes it. Unless you know the history and what’s happened beforehand, it’s hard to say for sure”.

According to Biddle, the current microalgae bloom on the Fleurieu Peninsula, which has already caused waves of dead fish to wash ashore, isn’t believed to be the cause of Pearl’s health issues.

“We’re not really thinking it’s the algal bloom because we’re not having other larger creatures rock up, it’s mainly just dead fish,” he explained.

“[Being leucistic] is obviously quite a rare condition and [penguins] born this way might have a lesser chance of survival. But it’s hard to tell if she’s having a rough go of life due to her colour or… whether it’s just random chance.”

Her rare colour might have contributed to her condition. (Image: Justin Biddle)

What will happen to Pearl the penguin?

Thankfully, Pearl is currently putting on weight and looks like she will make a full recovery. But Biddle warns that she is not out of the woods just yet. He says that while WOO’s first approach is always to release rehabilitated marine life back to the ocean, it might be decided it’s not the best thing for her.

“In South Australia, we’re governed by permits and regulations from the Department of Environment and Water, which covers the National Parks and Wildlife Services. So it would be a discussion with them – and maybe a few other researchers and experts – to see what happens. She might be released, or she might need to stay in captivity.”

“If it’s decided that captivity is the best for her, the experts will make a recommendation on where she goes,” he shared. “But it’ll need to be somewhere that already has a colony of Little Penguins in care”.

Here’s hoping little Pearl bounces back sooner rather than later.

Pearl is expected to make a full recovery. (Image: Justin Biddle)