03/03/2014 Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Good evening and welcome to Inside missing Good

Good evening and welcome to Inside Out from the Deep here in Hull,

where tonight, we have a special treat or you. We are off inside to

meet five new arrivals who have travelled a long way to be here. I

will give you a clue ` they have two wings and they can't fly.

Good evening and welcome to Inside Out. I'm Toby Foster and in the tank

behind me are five Gentoo penguins. Everybody knows that penguins don't

fly but these have come all the way from Texas to here at the Deep in

Hull. Naturalist Mike Dilger joined them on their 5,000 mile

transatlantic journey. When it comes to fish, the Deep

pretty much have it covered, with 300 different species and over 3,500

individuals, including everyone's favourite, the shark. But when the

aquarium opened in 2002, there were hopes to include a bird exhibit. But

they ran out of money. And now, in 2014, it is time to bring on the

birds. Penguins, to be precise. Gentoo

penguins, one of the true Antarctic species. It is incredible the size

of fish they can actually swallow whole. It is a long journey as the

aquarium team learn how to care for these charismatic birds. It has been

really useful and incredibly great fun. They have to race against both

time and a tight budget to get the enclosure ready. Most of the project

has gone really well but this balcony has been a bit of a

nightmare. Nothing is ever easy, is it? And then transport the penguins

safely all the way from Texas. One two, three, four, five. Lid on?

Yes. Let's go. Bye, guys. Be good. This is going to be fantastic,

everybody loves penguins. This is the Gentoo penguin in its

natural habitat. Antarctic islands like the Falklands and South

Georgia, where they have adapted to very cold temperatures.

I want to find out how to make a bird like this feel at home in the

north of England. Katy Duke is the Deep's Chief Curator and she is in

charge of Project Penguin. I am off to meet her at the aquarium's coral

nursery bed. Katie, a toothbrush, corals. You're

going to have to explain. I'm afraid you have to do a bit of cleaning

work for us. What we need to do is clean the algae off around the bases

of the colonies, so they can continue to grow. It strikes me that

you guys are phenomenally experienced with coral, know an

enormous amount about fish but birds is unknown territory. If you pardon

the pun, you're going in at the deep end. We really are, yes, and this is

something very new to us but really exciting. We're sort of doing our

homework to make sure we get it right, because as you say, it is not

our instant area of expertise. But penguins are just such fantastic

animals, they catch people's imagination. They use the water just

like fish do. They are such amazing birds, really, that it seems to fit

in incredibly well with our story. It is an honorary fish. It is an

honorary fish. And they are not coming from Britain, these Gentoo

penguins. And they are not coming from the Antarctic either. No, they

are coming from a captive bred population in Texas. The penguins

will come over by plane, so they will fly, which will be interesting.

But they will come in a crate, so they will be put in the hold of an

aeroplane and they will come over on a passenger flight with people sat

above them. There is a huge raft of things that we have to do in order

to get the birds here. It's November and the Deep has got

workers in working on the penguin enclosure. There is a lot riding on

this new exhibit. We have been open, what, 12 years now. Commercially, we

are the most successful millennium project in the country. But you

always, as a boss, worry about next year, worry about increased

competition, worry about energy prices going up.

Colin is the man who has been running the Deep from day one.

Exciting but also expensive, to bring them here and build the

enclosure. Yeah, yeah, you can't get a penguin on eBay, you know, they

are not easy to get. We said at the beginning, we are an environmental

charity. If we are going to bring penguins here, we are going to bring

them to the most exciting, suitable site that we can, and that doesn't

come cheap. Dare I ask how expensive it is to sort this out? It is

costing us about 600,000. They are keeping the cost down by designing

and building the penguin enclosure themselves. Bringing in a zoo design

company would double their costs. The builders have their plans and

there is a little help from Colin. I built this model myself. It is not a

big part of my job description, model building, but I was trying to

get across to the staff the kind of vision and the theming and how the

different levels would work. I struggled, to be honest. I tried

drawing pictures and sketches, but people were struggling to understand

that, so I thought the best way is to try and build a three`dimensional

model. To maintain the right temperature

for the Gentoos, this is going to be an indoor exhibit. But with one big

difference. An outdoor balcony. This is going to be a 3.3`metre opening

onto a 4.5`metre`square platform, with a glass partition to overlook

the pond for the penguins. `` to overlook the Humber. I don't know of

any other penguin display in the world where they can go indoors or,

if they fancy going out, they can also do that. They are on the first

floor, so they are quite elevated and they will look down towards the

ferry terminal, down towards the North Sea. They will have the whole

vista of the Humber there. And then from the Humber, they are looking

out over to the South Bank, so they get beautiful views of the sunrise.

I get quite excited looking at this model because, to me, it is not a

model anymore. I can see it in my mind's eye. I can see the penguins

in there, I can see it snowing on them and the ice machine in the

background. This is going to be fantastic. I mean, everyone loves

penguins. With the construction work underway, it is time for curator

Katy Duke to get some hands`on experience with Gentoo penguins. And

for that, she needs to head north of the border.

Of course, Edinburgh Zoo's number`one visitor attraction has to

be the only pandas in the whole of the UK. But Katy has come all the

way here for another black and white animal and, to her mind, it has got

just as much star appeal and attraction as these.

Edinburgh has nearly 70 Gentoos, one of the largest collections in

Europe. Unfortunately, they don't have any spare birds to spend to the

Deep, but they do have six decades of expertise to pass on. So it is

the perfect place for Katy to pick up some tips.

It is like tiptoeing through the tulips, isn't it?

We are both here to meet the man who looks after the zoo's bird

collection. Katy, Colin, it really is feeding

time at the zoo. I understand you have never fed a penguin before. I

haven't, this is very exciting for me. We have spent two and a half

years planning our penguin exhibit, this is the first time I'm going to

have the chance to feed one. So a big moment for me. I think we should

let her feed a Gentoo. What is the technique? We take our fish. You

just want to hold it, just about here, so you can use your thumb to

control the head. Want to keep the head fairly firm so you have control

of the fish as it goes in. And basically, go straight to the back

of the mouth. And it's gone! So you tilt it to one side, that is it,

straight down. How was that for you? Down in seconds. That is brilliant,

amazing. Can I have a go? Certainly, we'll find another bird

for you. This one here. So, again, same technique. Straight there. It

is like being ever so gently mugged. Beautiful. Wonderful. I imagine you

find that they are quite individual. Yes, you will have a colony of, you

know, 110 penguins here, but our staff will know each one and they

can even tell sometimes from a distance, without seeing the band,

just from its gait and the way it behaves, which bird it is. So the

staff know the penguins very well. So you get shy ones, extrovert ones,

greedy ones... Aggressive ones. I think the aggressive one is nibbling

away at my boot. Let's have another feed, shall we?

Do you have to feed each penguin individually? It's not like throwing

the food in with other animals. We hand feed all the birds here and

that means we get to see every bird every day, so we can pick up on

signs of illness much more quickly than we would if we were just

chucking stuff into the pool. We know that each bird is getting the

correct amount of diet. Nobody is not getting enough, nobody is

getting too much. We can monitor how much the birds are getting. It is

fantastic. It is my first experience feeding the Gentoos and they are

just unbelievable. They are so inquisitive, they come directly up

to you. It is actually quite easy for you to get the food in, once

they have got it into their beak. It is incredible the size of fish they

can actually swallow whole. It has been really useful and incredibly

great fun. They are a challenge, they are not an easy species. We are

one of the few zoos in the world that regularly breeds Gentoos. They

do take a lot of looking after, you have to get the diet right.

The Gentoos might look awkward on land but underwater, their flippers

and torpedo shape make perfect sense. They are faster than any

other diving bird, reaching speeds of up to 22 mph. So fast and noisy.

In the middle of breeding season, when we have around about 100 birds

vocalising, it is a very, very noisy place to work, so colonies are

tremendously noisy places. Penguins can pick out their partners and

individual birds. Each penguin call is unique, as unique as a human's

fingerprint and these animals have the amazing ability to select each

other out of these thousands of birds.

They are active, they are in the pool, out the pool, they are always

doing something. There is always something going on here. It is like

a soap opera played out every single day in this enclosure. They are

always fascinating to watch. So courtesy of Edinburgh Zoo, Katy

has learned a whole lot about the wonderful Gentoo penguin today. But

before they arrive in Hull, she has still got to complete a mountain of

paperwork. Will the enclosure be built on time? Then she has got to

go all the way to Texas to bring them back. Before we see a spectacle

like this, she's going to have a lot of work on her hands, isn't she?

It is now late December and the building work is in full swing. It

is a little over eight weeks before the penguins arrive. Inside, all the

work is running to schedule. But Colin penguin balcony, which will

give the Gentoos a view across the Humber, is quite a different story.

Most of the project has gone quite well, but this balcony has been a

bit of a nightmare. And before we can start the whole importation

process, we need to get a quarantine certificate. For that, it's got to

be airtight. The balcony's's got to be in and the balcony was due to go

on a couple of weeks ago. And literally on the day it was due to

go in, we had all the floods and gales. The gales brought the roof of

the steel fabricators down from the roof, so they were just trying to

get themselves sorted out and it is only now we have been able to do

it, really. Nothing is ever easy, is it? And as Colin chats to the

builders, it becomes clear that there could be more delays. We have

got gales forecast for tomorrow. 80 mph winds. Won't get done anyway,

will it? No. Then you guys close down for Christmas? Friday. For how

long? Two weeks. Which means if it isn't done today, it isn't done

until January. Which is too late for us to do any of the things we have

to do. It is going up. Two tonnes of

high`grade steel has to be carefully manoeuvred into position. Few

nerves. Think of all the paperwork if they had the building with it.

They look like they know what they are doing. I'll be glad when it's

in, to be honest, now. They are going to have to be clinically obese

penguins for that to be any problem, aren't they? It is really over

engineered. It is quite close to the glass, I'm glad it is not windy up

there. So today is the last day. After today, we would have problems.

Yes, it's been a bit of a nightmare to be honest, for the sake of the

penguins getting this lovely view. I hope they appreciate it. It needs to

come around. Whoa. Looks OK, that. After the

careful lifting, for those few final inches, it is down to pushing power

and a bit of brute force. It's taken hours, but finally the

builders and Colin are happy. Somebody once said to me there is a

thin line between a vision and an hallucination. I don't regret it

now, though. I think it will be a superb attraction and I think the

fact that people will be able to come knowing that the penguins, for

the first time in their life, actually, will be able to feel the

wind in their face and see the sea and get some ultraviolet light from

the sun, I think that will only make people accept penguins in captivity

a bit better. With the Christmas holidays over, it

is time to check in with the team at the Deep. Just three weeks now until

the Gentoos land on British soil. The exhibit is still a building

site, so I need to get suited up with the full protective gear.

Ready for action. Emma, how's it going? Yes, it's

going really well. Just explain what you're doing here. This is going to

be a rock pool here. Rock, freshwater supply trickling

throughout the day. That way is a water slide, hopefully the penguins

will play on it throughout the day. All made out of polystyrene. I am

your glamorous assistant today, I shall get going.

The polystyrene forms the shapes of rocks and icebergs. It then needs to

be coated and sealed for an authentic and Antarctic look. Can

you not use anything like real rocks? Well, first off, we are a

floor up, on the first floor of the building, so we have a weight issue

here. Not in terms of a problem, but we don't want to add too much extra

weight. But also, we are going for a nice smooth finish in terms of the

rocks and the ice and so on, so it makes it very practical, very

user`friendly for us, very easy on the penguins' feet. So there is a

variety of reasons why everything is, in a way, artificial and made

look real. You have done a lot and it looks like it is coming together

but I will say again, there is less than a month to go. Yes, thank you

for that, yes. Not worried? A little bit worried. No, we will get there.

As you can see, everybody is working about 16 hours a day at the moment

and I think that'll be the case between now and when the penguins

arrive. For the next three weeks, the team work 24/7 to get the job

done. But it is still not finished and Katy has to leave for the United

States to collect the Gentoos. She can only hope it will be ready in

time. It is just two days now until the

penguins begin their flight across the Atlantic. I have travelled to

join Katy in the US to see how it goes. This is Galveston, Texas.

Around 5,000 miles from Hull. And where the penguins destined for the

Deep have been bred. Now, this might seem like a long way to come. But

then again, Gentoos are difficult penguins to get hold of.

The aquarium in Galveston answered the call when the Deep went on an

international search for penguins. We got contacted by Katy about eight

months ago now asking if we would consider sending them some penguins.

They were having some difficulties getting them out of the UK or out of

the EU and we had some birds. We did a little investigating to make sure

they were a good facility and they could take care of the birds really

well. I got to visit in September and meet the staff and see the

exhibit and meet everyone there and that sealed the deal for us, it is a

great facility and we had the birds to send and so we were willing to do

so. Moody Gardens are supplying ten Gentoos in total. But to start

with, just five will make the transatlantic trip.

It's starting to get very real now, isn't it? It is very, very real now

because we are surrounded by penguins. Do you know which penguins

that you are going to take? The five that we are taking are named Fiona,

then we have the four Mutant Ninja Turtles and so we have got Raphael,

Michelangelo, Leonardo and who am I missing? Donatello. Donatello. So,

yeah, they are amongst us. I am not completely good on ID yet but I am

more up on which birds are which. Diane, you know these penguins. Can

you spot a few of the ones that are going to come back with us? Over

there is Donatello. One is over here. They are around. We have

spotted one that we are definitely taking.

Katy has decided the Gentoos need more English`sounding names if they

are to feel at home at the Deep. So from now on, they are Mike, Don,

Rafa and Leo. Fiona? Well, she is still Fiona. Now we need to get them

to Hull. It's the morning of the big day. The

penguins are about to begin their 5,000 mile journey. The first job is

to separate Fiona, Mike, Rafa, Don and Leo from the rest of the birds.

But Leo is determined to take a final swim.

It's a bit of a struggle. But he safely behind bars. ``he is.

Well done. I'm nervous, you know? It's a big deal for us. It is a big

deal for the birds as well. Our five Gentoos are already segregated.

That's right, they are already in a separate room so they are ready to

load whenever we want to do that. They're not getting any food,

though? They won't get any food this morning, no. We basically go for a

period of fasting for the penguins before they travel because if they

have full stomachs, it can be very uncomfortable. So they won't get any

food now until they reach the UK. The Gentoos have to watch and wait

as the other birds are fed. And Katy makes a new friend. Penguins can go

without food for around two weeks. A couple of the five might look a bit

scruffy but that is because they are still moulting. It is a little scary

to let them go into their cargo hold without us, but we have prepared

well and I think they will do just fine along transport. Hopefully they

will sleep on the way. Some glow sticks are the finishing touch for

the transport as the Gentoos are afraid of the dark. Now it is just a

small matter of getting the reluctant penguins into the box.

The start of a very, very long journey.

Which one's this? I can't tell. That is Raphael. Raphael, marvellous.

Three down, two to go. It has taken months of planning but

in a matter of minutes, all the penguins are packed up and ready to

leave. One, two, three, four, five. Lid on?

Yeah, good job. Let's go. It would be good to say goodbye. Bye, guys,

be good. The penguin road trip starts on a

pallet loader. And then on to a refrigerated lorry, destined for the

cargo park at Houston airport. The US Fish Wildlife Service has

to endorse the shipment. That they are not cite easy animals, they are

not endangered species and we are good to send. ``diseased animals. So

they just endorsed it so as far as Fish Wildlife are concerned, we

are good to go. Now the airline take responsibility for the penguins and

they will put them into the hold of the plane. We won't see them until

we arrive at the UK at the animal reception centre in Heathrow. I hope

they are going to be OK. It is dark by the time loading

starts and the glow sticks are doing their job. Ahead of the Gentoos, an

eight`hour transatlantic flight, leaving behind their home in Texas.

Throughout the flight, the cargo hold is kept at a steady six degrees

so the birds don't overheat. But there is no way of checking how they

are doing until the plane lands. PILOT: Welcome to London Heathrow,

where the local time is coming up to two minutes to 12.

This is it, the moment of truth. In that van are five Gentoo penguins.

Hopefully, healthy. Like any animal imported through Heathrow, the

Gentoos have to be inspected at the inspection centre. ``reception. How

are they doing? Hopefully good, hopefully good, having never

transported penguins before. I see penguins. They are all standing up.

They are all quite inquisitive. There are lots of feathers and poo

in the bottom. They do look really, really healthy.

They are just putting in the scanner to see if they can read their

microchips. It is matching the bird with the paperwork. It is matching

the bird with the paperwork, exactly. I am really glad that the

birds look OK and it appears everything is going to go smoothly

and we are on the road to Hull. And that means packing up the

penguins again for the final leg of this mammoth journey. But as the

birds are being loaded, one of them starts to give Katy some concern.

Fiona is panting a little bit. As a precaution, a vet is put on stand`by

in Hull. The next time we take the lid off, it'll be at the Deep. It

will. Not long now, little fellas. That is it, all the paperwork done.

They are going up to Hull. It is a fantastic turnout at the

Deep. One slight problem is the container is too big for the lifts,

so we are going to have to lift out one penguin at a time, put them into

these dustbins and take them to the new enclosure. So one last glitch,

but hopefully, they will be in soon. They decide to leave Fiona until

last. She doesn't look any worse, but the vet does need to check her

over. But first, to avoid the boys getting stressed in their buckets,

it is time to let them have a look at their new home.

Oh, that's gorgeous. Honestly, it looks like the Antarctic over there.

Just wandering around the icebergs. You can be crabby, it's OK. With

Don, Leo, Mike and Rafa safe and sound, attention turns to Fiona, who

by now is looking really distressed. She looks a little rough right now,

she has just got a feather stuck up in her eye, like we would have if we

had an eyelash. So the vet is going to get some forceps to pull it out.

Mark the vet has examined Fiona and is happy there is nothing more

serious to worry about. But now the tricky operation of removing that

feather. That is it. Fiona instantly looks happier and can finally join

the rest of the Gentoos. It feels like it's been quite a long

journey, but we are here now and I think the whole team are just in awe

now, just watching these little fellas running around, which is kind

of magical, really. It's lovely. But there's still one job left before

the night is over. Dinner. And any lingering worries about Fiona are

quickly dispelled when she is the first to take a fish.

Bingo. Five penguins who have travelled

5,000 miles. A lot of people have put a huge

amount of effort getting these penguins to Hull. It has been a long

time in the planning and preparation but you have to say, seeing them

explore their new home, it was worth it.

Well, that's all for tonight from here at the Deep in Hull ` and

indeed for this series of Inside Out. We'll be back in the autumn. In

the meantime, it's good night from me and it's good night from them.

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