I've been thinking a lot about penguins since Disney's new three-episode series premiered this month. It's fantastic, as you might expect from filmmaker Bertie Gregory. My 2022 trip to South Georgia and Antarctica was my most exciting wildlife adventure. I was able to spend time with seven species of penguins, including this little showoff, the rockhopper. Please enjoy this tribute to these amazing flightless wonders.
🐧 🐧 🐧 🐧
Rockhopper penguins in the Malvinas or Falkland Islands live up to their name. Once making landfall from a fishing trip, the rockhoppers began rockhoppin' straight up a steep cliff face to their waiting chicks high above the southern ocean.
A rockhopper chick is jet black. It won't get its mom's colorful yellow tassels until it sheds its baby down. This chick is off to a fantastic start.
King penguins are the world's second-biggest penguins next to emperors. These birds seem to radiate their own warm sunlight in their orange and yellow feathers. Que bella!
King penguins rest on a sandbar in the middle of a freezing glacial creek on South Georgia Island.
I was lucky to see a king penguin cradling its precious egg on its toes in the Malvinas. Like emperor penguins, king penguins raise just one chick every two years. The adults will take turns incubating the egg over the course of two months. The eggs can freeze on the permafrost and are at vulnerable to hungry predators like skuas that haunt the beaches here, so the adults keep it close at all times.
King penguins are the stars of South Georgia Island. The beaches of St. Andrew's Bay are home to more than 300,000 penguins. Wowza!
Courteous king penguins patiently wait their turn to return to the ship on Christmas Day.
Not even a soaking rain could dampen spirits when we visited an enormous king penguin colony on South Georgia. What a spectacle.
To get to deeper water, the king penguins must run a gauntlet of prowling leopard seals. The birds make a mad dash together on the surface, keeping watch for any signs of the predators as they frantically paddle as fast as they can to the safety of open water.
Open water isn't always a refuge, as this poor king penguin found. The leopard seal ambushed the penguin about a half-mile from the beach, quickly dispatching it on the surface. It was brutal but incredible to witness. I most wanted to see a leopard seal on this trip, so I was stoked. I almost always root for the predator, so seeing this kill was awesome! But also very sad, of course.
Like rockhoppers, macaroni penguins have outrageous yellow tassels. We took a zodiac to a cliff where the little penguins were nesting. The direct sunlight made for some tricky photography. White fur and feathers get blown out so easily in direct sunlight.
A macaroni penguin prepares to dive into the tidal pools fool of bull kelp. I told this penguin that the coast was clear just as hunting fur seal popped its head out of the water. Good thing he didn't listen to me! The cautious penguin knew better.
Meet the mags! Magellanic penguins might be my favorites. I like their zebra stripes and their teamwork. This fishing party spaced itself out like bowling pins for a nice group photo. Well done, lads! The penguins were exhausted from their fishing trip and needed to rest a while before making the arduous trip up the beach to their chicks. This island in the Malvinas is a paradise with turquoise water and T-shirt weather on the day I visited. I loved spending time with them.
The mags hurried out of the surf to the dry sand where they warmed up in the sun. Penguins are never idle for long and a few minutes later they were off to their nests up in the high rocks.
Penguin feet are studded with tiny bumps that help them get traction on the ice.
Antarctica is a land of extremes. It's the coldest, windiest and driest place on Earth. But the scenery is simply incredible. I found the castle from Disney Nature.
Antarctica will make a landscape photographer out of anyone. The continent holds a majority of the world's ice.
Chinstrap penguins are a common penguin in Antarctica. Ironically, we saw the fewest chinstraps of any penguin species we encountered. But this one flapping its flippers on the rocks was a little charmer.
I saw gentoo penguins everywhere we went in the southern ocean. This one went far afield to find the perfect rock to bring back to the nest. Look how happy he is!
Gentoos were incredibly friendly, waddling over to me to say hi during our visit to the Malvinas while I was sitting a good distance away from the colony. I had a long lens so I could only photograph her clawed pumpkin feet so close! Would you mind standing over there?
A gentoo chick begs for food from its returning parent. They swallow the fish and krill in one disgusting bite. Yummy.
An Adelie penguin carefully picks its way down slippery boulders after a snowstorm. The penguin was just as careful as I was to not stumble. This is my favorite pic from Antarctica.
Authentic polar conditions greeted me in Antarctica. Photographing Adelie penguins in the snow was the highlight of my trip. I love looking for wildlife in the snow.
I couldn't have been happier shooting penguins in a whiteout snowstorm. The penguins had as much trouble navigating the slippery rocks as I did.
We found a penguin colony high above an ice sheet. The Adelies had to navigate the ice to reach the beach. Some waddled while others tobogganed on their bellies.
It was fun to guess which were waddlers and which were tobogganers.
Penguins are endearing to me because they are stumbly and clumsy on land. And navigating snow-covered rocks is just asking for trouble. Careful!
Adelies porpoise through the water to reach the safety of the beach. Danger prowls these waters.
An Adelie's injuries are evidence of a narrow escape from a leopard seal. But these birds are tough. Hopefully, the penguin will heal up quickly.
Penguins are devoted parents. Their lives are dedicated to providing for the next generation. These little Adelie twins are off to a great start.
No comments:
Post a Comment