By: Katie Sanders, Staff Writer

Senior Paul Walkup begins his final year at Wofford with news from down under. The Manly Wharf society approved his recycling project that will help the endangered little blue penguins in Australia.

Soon, there will be penguin-shaped recycling bins all over Manly Wharf. This is a project Walkup worked on during his semester abroad last year, with the help of the rangers who work for Sydney Harbor National Park. Manly, which is the only place the penguins still live in Sydney, is a popular tourist destination. The trash on the beach poses an environmental threat to the already dwindling penguin population.

The recycling bins will be accompanied by information about the penguins to better educate people on the endangered species. Different organizations will also be able to sponsor an individual bin.

“When I first showed up, I was disheartened because the area was trashed. I asked why there was no major recycling program. I was told that there were bins with small signs explaining that a critically endangered species lives here, but not many people notice them. Sometimes the penguins are even attacked by the tourists’ dogs,” says Walkup.

Walkup knew before he left for his semester abroad that he wanted to do something to help the little blue penguin population.

“I’ve always loved penguins; they are my favorite animal. What got me interested in the Australian little blue penguins is the tourist attraction in Melbourne where everyone gathers at night to watch all the penguins come up to shore,” says Walkup.

He participated in an SIT study abroad program, which entails a four week independent study project at the end of the semester. During this time, he interned with the rangers in the Sydney Harbor National Park. It was his idea to start a recycling program, and the rangers’ idea to make them shaped like the little blue penguin. Because he only had four weeks of his internship, the project was still in the planning stages when he left Australia.

“Due to the very kind hearts of the rangers, they continued my project after I left. They received outside funding from several individual donors and other sources. My ranger I was working with took it to the Office of the Environment and the Penguin Recovery Team, but they had a lot of questions and eventually turned it down. She took it to the Manly Wharf Society and they gave her a thumbs up,” says Walkup.

Now that the project has been approved and has the necessary funding, they are in the prototype stage. They are looking into surfboard material since the bins will be outdoors all the time.

“It was a lot of work to figure out the initial process of who can do this and how much will it cost. I contacted many, many surfboard manufacturers and prototype makers. I was able to get these contacts through my ranger.”

During Walkup’s internship with the national park, he also mentored a fifth grader in the U.S. who was writing a book about the little blue penguins in Australia. Gavin Phillips contacted Walkup’s ranger for help on his book, and the project got passed down.

“He became so fascinated by the idea of a fellow American working to save the lives of the penguins in Australia that he wanted to include me in it. I graciously accepted. His story is about the little blue penguins in North Sydney Harbor and a researcher named Paul who works to save them.”

Phillips wanted his book to help the conservation effort, so he decided to donate all his proceeds to Walkup’s recycling bin project. “The Little Blue Penguins of North Sydney Harbor” is available online at lulu.com.

As far as the future of his project, Walkup has simple expectations.

“I just hope it raises awareness for the existing penguin population as it is. That’s all I could ever hope and ask for. If we could eventually raise awareness for other species in Australia that don’t get as much attention, that would be great, too.”