Antarctica: Penguins

Posted by twoyangs on March 13, 2012 in Antarctica, Blog, faves | 6 comments

A gang of Adelie penguins defend their turf

So many penguins! These flightless birds live only in the Southern Hemisphere and have definitely marked their territory in Antarctica. The remote location of their colonies severely limits human contact making these birds fearless and almost gregarious to visitors. Although we have to stay five meters away, stand still for five minutes and a curious penguin will invariably waddle closer to have a look at you. And there is definitely a stench as their guano collects over the summer (it smells like fish sauce, so on average better than your local zoo).

It’s so easy to lose time watching the penguins as they clumsily amble about. We visited at the end of the season when many of them are molting. The chicks were also much larger, some bigger than their parents. We had fun anthropomorphizing different storylines for each colony. While awkward on land, they are amazing to watch in water speeding and porpoising about, something that was impossible for us to see in an aquarium or zoo. The distances they can travel in water is staggering; they have undeniably evolved to use the ocean as their sky.

It's hard not to be charmed by a penguin's walk

It seemed like they often grouped in triplets

Penguin highways created by repeated trips to the ocean and back to the nests

Collecting rocks for a nest

A parent regurgitates into their growing chick

Molting strategy #1: Stand very still

Molting strategy #2: Lay very still

Molting strategy #3: Run around with a buddy

Penguin tracks

This penguin appears to have been scolded by his parent

Penguin poo is red, ice is supposed to be white...

My fuzzy attempt to catch a penguin porpoising

Emerging from the water like triathletes

Many are quite curious

Close-up with a gentoo penguin

Even penguins need to get away from everybody now and then