Sphenisco is directly involved in the protection and monitoring of Humboldt penguin breeding colonies, while also campaigning for the creation of marine protected areas. By working with Chilean universities in Santiago and Coquimbo, and partner organisations MODEMA and Ecotourismo, Sphenisco has been able to conduct groundbreaking research on the breeding ecology of the Humboldt penguin. In 2023, they published the first ever comprehensive report on the breeding success of Humboldt penguins on Peru’s Ballestas Islands, which has shown that current reproductive rates are not sufficient to ensure the long-term viability of this colony.

The Humboldt penguin is considered Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List, with approximately 23,800 left in Chile and Peru. Humboldt penguins are threatened by many things, including predation from feral dogs, nest predation by introduced rats, over-fishing of their prey species (sardines and anchovies), entanglement in gillnets, and disturbance by tourists. Humboldt penguins are also impacted by El Niño, which is the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. This occurs every 2-7 years and reduces the amount of prey available. El Niño events are likely to increase in frequency and intensity as a result of climate change, which will likely harm the Humboldt penguin.

Over the last three years Sphenisco has also been working with Chilean and New Zealand researchers to study the population ecology, breeding success and foraging behaviours of Humboldt penguins in Chile. The extensive work studied breeding populations of Humboldt penguins on 10 islands along the coast of north-central Chile. Using GPS trackers and PenguCam camera loggers, the team were able to show that penguins hunt at different ocean depths than previously assumed, and also engaged in co-operative foraging in large groups of 50 or more penguins.