She has a "bit of a stronger bond" with the little penguins she has hand-reared herself, she says.

But in truth she seems to know every one that waddles up like an old friend.

She gives a running commentary as The Courier takes a behind-the-scenes visit to the penguin enclosure.

"Ducky, who is coming out to investigate you, he is super curious, super friendly and he just loves attention.

"Ryder just coming out is a little bit more hesitant [but] he has to see what's going on.

WATCH: The astonishing sound of penguins during breeding season [video filmed in September last year]

"They all have a slightly different way of eating, they'll have a slightly different way of walking, different levels of affection for me - if any at all," she laughs.

It is the only proof you will ever need that every penguin has its own character.

Following another successful breeding season - three penguin chicks were fully fledged this season - there are now 23 penguins, up from a dozen when the enclosure first opened in 2017.

It may be hard to pick the most winning character, but Ms Geeson finds it less tricky to choose her best time of year: chick season, which takes place in early spring.

"Teaching them to eat, watching them take their first swim, watching them first coming out of the nest, it is so amazingly rewarding," she says.

"I just like raising penguins. And they are super cute."

But she doesn't hide the hard work behind the job, nor its less glamorous side, which includes getting covered in fish guts on a regular basis.

Chick season is by far the messiest time of year, she says: "I constantly smell like a combination of a penguin and a chick."

There were no penguins at the park, when Ms Geeson first started working as a volunteer several years ago while doing an undergraduate degree in animal science and zoology.

Following an honours project on Australian fur seals, and some work down on Philip Island with the little penguins there, Ms Geeson was given her big break.

State funding offered the chance to set up a penguin colony in Ballarat and she leapt at the chance.

"I helped with the construction of the enclosure, getting the penguins in, getting them settled, introducing two different groups," she says.

Much to her surprise, the breeding took place in the very first season with a pair called Bubble and Balthazar. The first time looking after chicks was "extremely intimidating" but "so exciting", she recalls.

Bruce and Blue were the first chicks to be born at the park. Two years later, Blue is the now father of a penguin girl Squid, the first second generation chick to be born at the park. (You can only tell the sex of penguins by DNA testing, Ms Geeson says).

So with an ever growing colony, do all the different personalities take more managing?

"I never have to intervene," Ms Geeson says.

"We're really lucky with penguins as they do live in colonies out in the wild, with 30 to 40 individuals. They are pretty good in a captive setting."

She says the only difficulty is when the more curious youngsters go to investigate nest boxes in breeding season.

"The breeding adults can get quite territorial. But we've never had any real disputes and I think that's just because of the layout of the exhibit, how everything is set up - they all have enough space."

"It's pretty much the youngsters getting put in their place by the older, more experienced penguins."

Despite the noise and the fish guts, Ms Geeson would not change a thing.

"Marine mammals and marine birds have always been something that I have been interested in, so this was really the perfect job for me, honestly."

"The best way into zookeeping in general is volunteering," Ms Geeson says.

"If you are willing to put in the hard work as a volunteer, picking up poop, cleaning up hay, all of that puts you in a good position for a future in the animal keeping industry and looking after animals like penguins.

"Degrees help, and there are TAFE certificates for people who aren't that interested in university. But volunteering will help you get a foot in a door."

Also known as the blue penguin or the fairy penguin, it is the only penguin that breeds in Australia. In Victoria, there are well known colonies in Phillip Island and Warrnambool.

There are also colonies along the New South Wales, Tasmania, New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. Despite the introduction of predators such as cats, the population is currently described by Birdlife Australia as stable, with an estimated one million birds.

It is the smallest of the 18 penguin in the world, only growing to an average height of 33cm.

Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.