To celebrate the success of the Whale Cottage Portfolio, it has bought a penguin house on Dyer Island, to provide a safe haven for the penguins to breed in. This project is run by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust from Gansbaai (www.dict.org.za). The African penguins on Dyer Island are vulnerable to extinction, as the guano they used in the past to make their nests has been removed for the production of fertilizer. In 30 years the number of breeding pairs on Dyer island has decreased by 90 %, to about 1 600 pairs. The fibreglass nests have been designed to mimic guano burrows, to protect the penguins against predators and the elements, and to assist the Trust in research and monitoring.
Last month Whale Cottage Hermanus celebrated its 13th anniversary. It was the first Whale Cottage to open.
The Whale Cottage Portfolio is in celebratory mode again, with Whale Cottage Camps Bay celebrating its 11thbirthday this month, and Whale Cottage Franschhoek celebrating its 5th birthday.
It is also the first anniversary of the WhaleTales blog, the first step of the Whale Cottage Portfolio into social media marketing. Blogging, Twittering and Facebooking are very important parts of the daily Whale Cottage marketing communication activities.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
