Then and later and now gone

The yellow-eyed penguin colonies are emptying out: the chicks are leaving and it is a little weird. We have been working with the eggs and then chicks for almost 5 months and now they are leaving - and all we can do is hope that they are going to be ok and wait for them to come back - either starving and in need of a top-up or fat and healthy. 
The series of photos here are a pair of chicks that grew up in a sponsored box. Both chicks were treated for Diphtheria and survived. We weighed and measured them for sexing and they turned out to be a boy and a girl. He weighed 6.1kg and she weighed 5.6kg at 100 days old. These are excellent weights and their mum and dad have done a grand job. Good luck, little ones, fare well and hope to see you again!