Antarctic Photos 10 - Penguins

Most of the penguins we saw were Gentoos, with some Chinstraps on Deception Island and Adelies at Palmer Station. We had earlier seen Rockhoppers and Magellanic penguins in the Falklands. Their social interactions in the rookeries where they nest are fascinating and you could easily spend hours just observing the canoodling of the mating couples; the tenderness of their care for their chicks, regurgitating half-digested krill into their mpouths and their outrage if another penguin comes within pecking distance of their nest.

A Gentoo calling for its mate

The access from the rookery to the sea is a well-trodden motorway

When they are in the water, they porpoise along. Under the water they zip around at incredible speed.

But if they get caught by a Leopard seal, this is all that’s left.

A Gentoo with two little chicks

If you look closely, you can see a stream of regurgitated krill being transferred from the adults mouth to its chick. Note the round and hollowed nest made from small stones

Even though skuas feed off eggs and chicks when they can get them, the penguins are pretty relaxed until they come too close to the nest

An ice flow provides a convenient meeting place for feeding penguins

Here are a couple leaping a metre out of the water to join the club

A philosophical penguin pondering on the meaning of life

An Adelie penguin at Palmer Station

… and a Chinstrap penguin on Deception island