Penguins
live in colonies which often have thousands of pairs living
together. The choice locations for
a nest are
the highest places that are the
first to be clear of snow in the spring. To reach these desirable
sites may
require a climb over snow fields and
rocky cliffs.
The dot in the first
picture is a
single penguin all alone on a snow
field. We occasionally saw
icebergs where a
few had decided to get away from
the crowd.
Chinstrap
penguins 27 inches (70 cm.) and
10-11 pounds
(5 kg) The first of these
pictures shows one
carrying a pebble which will be
used as part of its nest.
This one apparently
survived an
attack by a predator. Probably a leopard seal
or possibly a
shark.
We were not supposed to
get closer
than 15 ft from the penguins. Curious penguins
apparently hadn't
been told about the minimum approach rule. Here is a video showing
one checking
out some human intruders.
Gentoo
penguins 27-30 in. (68-71 cm.)
and 12-13.5
pounds (5.5-6.2 kg.) Their bright orange beak
and feet are
very distinctive. If you just sit on the
snow they will
walk quite close to you. The pebble nests
guarantee that water
running down from snow uphill
doesn't touch their eggs. Occasionally we would
see one
tobogganing on their belly but most
preferred to walk.
Adelie
penguins 27.5 in. (70 cm.) and
10-11 lb. (5
kg.)
Eggs
and baby
penguins
They seem to be playing
in the
water.
Antarctic
Skua Also known as the
Brown Skua were seen hanging around
several of the penguin colonies. They resemble gulls as
both are
scavengers and opportunistic feeders. We saw them fly in and
cause a real
uproar among the penguins. On one occasion we
captured pictures
of one stealing an egg which it
took a short distance away an ate.
The pair whose egg had been stolen followed but there was nothing that
they could do.
It was apparent the the egg had been nearly ready to hatch.
Cormorant
Snowy
sheathbill
We saw Weddell seals at
several of
our landings. There were Fur seals as well. And Elephant
seals round out the list
of the kinds we saw. I think that this is a
young Elephant
seal.
I'm not sure what kind
this is.
They tend to look alike from this side.
We saw several hanging
out on and
around icebergs. A whale
spouting and then diving. Unfortunately we only
have mental
pictures of the closest encounter
when one swam alongside the ship. The whale was just under
the surface
and nearly touching it. It was so distinct it
was hard for us
to believe that it was real and not some
sort of movie special effect.
Here are some pictures
that look like
they could use captions to explain what the penguins may have been
thinking. If you have a suggestion
send me
e-mail at kuehner@usa.net and tell me the
number of the picture. I will include the best
ones when I
update this page. 1)
2) 3)
4) 5)
6) 7) This pair need a
combined caption 8)
Many of these pictures
were
taken by
Nancy and Alan but I am indebted
to
others on the trip for sharing their pictures. Our thanks to Marie-Jo,
Dan, Ruth,
Hal, Marilyn, Denny, Laura, Buffy,
Stan and Sasha.