In lower than three weeks, I’ll depart for Antarctica, my first stint as an expedition crew member with Intrepid Journey and Chimu Adventures. I’m ridiculously excited (extra right here about becoming a member of me down on the White Continent). Will probably be my fifth Antarctic journey and 14th polar journey. I assume it’s protected to say I’m hooked, haha.
The historical past! The journey! The wildlife! The penguins!
Let’s be trustworthy right here: I’m positively most excited for the penguins of Antarctica. A complete chicken nerd at coronary heart, I really like all the seabirds within the Antarctic and Subantarctic. The sunshine-mantled sooty albatross is a specific fave. However when push involves shove, penguins will at all times win.
Their lovely waddle. Their pettiness on the subject of stealing one another’s nest rocks. The projectile poop. The jaunty eyebrows. The fluffy fats chicks. I imply, is there a extra excellent chicken?
There’s debate on what number of species of penguins are at present alive (between 17 and 20 sorts). I’m extraordinarily fortunate to have met 14 out of 19 species. Dwelling in New Zealand has its perks, particularly with all of the crested penguins round right here.
The large one I’m lacking is the emperor. Emperor penguins don’t have colonies the place most expedition ships can attain. Generally, you see people removed from house (known as vagrants), however I haven’t seen one but. In the future!
Like all chicken species, totally different species of penguins are likely to stay in sure areas; this implies you gained’t see each single one on one journey to Antarctica – sorry! The overwhelming majority of expedition ship journeys to Antarctica go to the Antarctic Peninsula. In case you’re prepared to spend extra, the following step is normally including stops to South Georgia and the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas). South Georgia is my favourite place on THE ENTIRE PLANET. Additional nonetheless you possibly can hit up the New Zealand subantarctic. I don’t know the way you get to the subantarctic islands close to the Indian Ocean, but when you recognize, please electronic mail me haha.
Islands that fall throughout the latitude of 46° and 60° south are thought-about subantarctic. So, I’m going to incorporate penguins from there, too.
Now that I’m heading again right down to the ice, I believed it was excessive time to place collectively a weblog of a number of the penguins you would possibly meet on a visit to Antarctica and the subantarctic.
Antarctica Penguins
The gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua)
The one penguin you’re just about assured to see time and again in Antarctica needs to be the nice outdated dependable gentoo penguin. These cuties are all over the place. In actual fact, they’re the one species of penguin with an rising inhabitants with a inhabitants estimated at round 387,000 pairs. Local weather change is definitely favorable to them as a result of their habitat expands; they solely breed in areas with no snow or ice. Gentoo-fication, if you’ll.
Gentoos are all over the place within the Antarctic and subantarctic, clocking in at round six kilos with black and white heads and vivid orange beaks. Krill, squid, and fish are their go-to staples; they will dive a whole bunch of instances each day, looking for meals. They’re additionally the quickest swimming penguins, reaching as much as 36 kph.
You’ll probably see many colonies of gentoos on a visit to the Antarctic Peninsula. January is an efficient time to see the fluffy chicks; gentoos are one of many few penguins of Antarctica that always have two chicks.
The chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis Antarctica)
I’ve at all times felt like chinstrap penguins are a little bit of the underdog on the subject of the penguins of Antarctica. I really like the chinnies, as I name them; they appear dapper with the painted band of black feathers round their heads, nearly as in the event that they’re carrying a little bit tuxedo.
Whereas there are round eight million chinstrap penguins (in 2018), they’re in decline, particularly across the Antarctic Peninsula.
In case you watched the unimaginable Planet Earth II, you would possibly do not forget that the most important chinstrap penguin colony on this planet is on the volcanic Zavodovski Island (it seemed insane right here; I can’t even think about how unhealthy it smells). That is on the distant South Sandwich Islands, due east of South Georgia. Two million chinnies! What a dream it might be to go right here sooner or later! I totally acknowledge that my journey goals will not be like most.
The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)
I don’t know why, however I actually love Adélie penguins. I feel it’s as a result of their eyes are freaky-looking. I’ve additionally not seen as lots of them as different penguins, and I’ve by no means been to a colony of Adélies, although I do know they’re ample, probably the most extensively distributed penguins with a inhabitants of round 10 million. Nevertheless, I’ve solely ever seen one or two at a time on the Antarctic Peninsula, so it felt actually particular.
Named for the spouse of the French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville, Adélies have numerous gumption and could be fairly cheeky, taking up larger predators. They’re additionally thought-about one of many solely “true” penguins of Antarctica (together with the emperor) that stay on the continent.
Adélies are infamous for an additional purpose. Throughout Robert Falcon Scott’s notorious Terra Nova Expedition, George Murray Levick, a scientist onboard, spent the summer season of 1911/1912 at Cape Adare observing the most important Adélie penguin rookery on this planet. He witnessed what he described as “sexual depravity” among the many Adélies, together with necrophilia, rape, and chicken homicide. It was deemed too indecent to be printed and was solely rediscovered in 2012. Drama!
The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)
Ah, the most important and most iconic of penguins and in addition the toughest (or costliest) to see in actual life, the emperor penguin. One of many few penguins I haven’t seen up shut in private. But. Often, emperor penguins will present up in random locations at sea; we even had one wash up on the North Island a decade in the past, fats and pleased. Are you able to think about strolling your canine on the seaside and coming throughout one in every of these guys?
Emperor penguins stay a lot farther south than the remainder of their relations, making it a lot tougher to get to them. Virtually all Antarctic expedition ships go to the Peninsula, however these guys stay on the jap aspect within the icy Weddell Sea on Snow Hill Island or the Ross Sea.
Only a few expedition ships enterprise into emperor territory and have the best ice class score for expedition ships. Additionally they normally carry a protracted a few helicopters. I’ve but to hustle my method onboard one in every of these ships, however relaxation assured, I’ll.
Emperors positively have the cutest chicks of all penguins, they usually’re the one penguins that breed throughout the Antarctic winter. They’ll additionally dive deeper than another chicken on Earth, right down to 500+ meters.
Subantarctic Penguins
The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
While you see images of these iconic penguins that quantity within the tens of hundreds, normally these are king penguins, with their black heads, white tummies, and a gorgeous yellow/orange patch on the neck, king penguins stand tall because the second-largest penguin species. They appear similar to emperor penguins, although they hardly ever meet, residing on reverse sides of the subantarctic/Antarctic.
King penguins reign supreme on South Georgia, among the finest locations on this planet to see their huge colonies.
I can nonetheless keep in mind my first go to to St Andrews Bay, house to half one million king penguins. We may hear and scent them lengthy earlier than arriving on shore. That is the place you need to go to see them at their finest. It was an expertise that introduced me to my knees (actually, kneeling is one of the best ways to {photograph} them). I’ve additionally seen them on the Falkland Islands and Macquarie Island.
Rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome)
In case you’re on one of many longer Antarctic expedition journeys, you’ll probably name into the Falkland Islands. Right here, you’ll have the possibility to fulfill the sprightly little rockhopper penguin. A crested penguin they’ve jaunty yellow eyebrows and alarmingly crimson eyes. I’ve bother distinguishing crested penguins; they appear just like Macaroni penguins, which you may as well see on the Falklands. We additionally see totally different subspecies of rockhopper penguins within the New Zealand subantarctic.
The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)
The opposite distinctive penguin you possibly can spot on the Falkland Islands is the Magellanic penguin. White and black, they’re named after famed explorer Ferdinand Magellan. The primary time I noticed them was on a white sandy seaside, which was considerably disconcerting and never what I anticipated.
Their inhabitants is round three million penguins worldwide.
Snares crested penguin (Eudyptes robustus)
Snares crested penguins stay solely on the subantarctic Snares Island, 200 kilometers south of New Zealand. The island is so protected that nobody can land on it, however some expedition ships can view them by boat. There are about 25,000 breeding pairs.
It was so cool to see them across the Snares from zodiacs. Watching them mingle within the colourful kelp and wandering beneath the native forest was like one thing from one other world.
Yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho (Megadyptes antipodes)
The yellow-eyed penguin is the rarest on this planet and could be discovered right here in New Zealand and the subantarctic – Cambell Islands and the Auckland Islands. They’re endangered and declining, with solely 4,000 or so left.
I really like the hoiho and at all times really feel very privileged to see them in New Zealand, understanding how fragile the inhabitants is. However to see them up shut and private on the Auckland Islands amongst the forest and bush was really particular.
Erect-crested penguins (Eudyptes sclateri)
Once more, I are likely to get just about all the crested penguins confused as a result of they appear so related, however I used to be fortunate sufficient to see a number of the uncommon erect-crested penguins on Campbell Island, a New Zealand subantarctic island, just a few years in the past. They have a tendency to principally breed on the Antipodes and Bounty Islands.
These days, they’re thought-about endangered, and we don’t even have a lot data on their inhabitants, although it’s regarded as round 150,000.
Royal Penguin (Eudyptes schlegeli)
One other crested penguin, the royal penguin does stand out from the others. There’s debate whether or not they’re a subspecies of macaroni penguins; they’ve a very white face and chin and outrageous yellow eyebrows. Royal penguins breed solely on Macquarie Island, an Australian subantarctic island.
