In lower than three weeks, I’ll depart for Antarctica, my first stint as an expedition team member with Intrepid Journey and Chimu Adventures. I’m ridiculously excited (extra here about becoming a member of me down on the White Continent). Will probably be my fifth Antarctic journey and 14th polar journey. I suppose it’s secure to say I’m hooked, haha.
The historical past! The journey! The wildlife! The penguins!
Let’s be sincere right here: I’m undoubtedly most excited for the penguins of Antarctica. A complete chook nerd at coronary heart, I really like the entire seabirds within the Antarctic and Subantarctic. The sunshine-mantled sooty albatross is a specific fave. However when push involves shove, penguins will all the time win.
Their cute waddle. Their pettiness in the case of stealing one another’s nest rocks. The projectile poop. The jaunty eyebrows. The fluffy fats chicks. I imply, is there a extra good chook?
There’s debate on what number of species of penguins are presently alive (between 17 and 20 sorts). I’m extraordinarily fortunate to have met 14 out of 19 species. Residing in New Zealand has its perks, particularly with all of the crested penguins round right here.
The massive 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 dwelling (referred to as vagrants), however I haven’t seen one but. Someday!
Like all chook species, completely different species of penguins are likely to stay in sure areas; this implies you received’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 subsequent 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 may 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 realize, please e-mail me haha.
Islands that fall throughout the latitude of 46° and 60° south are thought of subantarctic. So, I’m going to incorporate penguins from there, too.
Now that I’m heading again all the way down to the ice, I assumed it was excessive time to place collectively a weblog of a number of the penguins you may 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 repeatedly in Antarctica needs to be the nice outdated dependable gentoo penguin. These cuties are in all places. In truth, 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 in all places within the Antarctic and subantarctic, clocking in at round six kilos with black and white heads and vibrant orange beaks. Krill, squid, and fish are their go-to staples; they’ll dive a whole bunch of instances every day, looking for meals. They’re additionally the quickest swimming penguins, reaching as much as 36 kph.
You’ll seemingly 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 all the time felt like chinstrap penguins are a little bit of the underdog in the case of the penguins of Antarctica. I really like the chinnies, as I name them; they give the impression of being dapper with the painted band of black feathers round their heads, nearly as in the event that they’re sporting a 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 may keep in mind that the biggest chinstrap penguin colony on the planet is on the volcanic Zavodovski Island (it regarded insane right here; I can’t even think about how dangerous it smells). That is on the distant South Sandwich Islands, due east of South Georgia. Two million chinnies! What a dream it could be to go right here in the future! I totally acknowledge that my journey desires should not 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 a lot 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 may be fairly cheeky, taking up larger predators. They’re additionally thought of one of many solely “true” penguins of Antarctica (together with the emperor) that stay on the continent.
Adélies are infamous for an additional cause. 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 biggest Adélie penguin rookery on the planet. He witnessed what he described as “sexual depravity” among the Adélies, together with necrophilia, rape, and chook homicide. It was deemed too indecent to be printed and was solely rediscovered in 2012. Drama!
The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)
Ah, the largest and most iconic of penguins and in addition the toughest (or most costly) to see in actual life, the emperor penguin. One of many few penguins I haven’t seen up shut in private. But. Sometimes, 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 completely satisfied. Are you able to think about strolling your canine on the seashore and coming throughout one in all 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 japanese 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 very best ice class ranking for expedition ships. In addition they normally deliver a protracted a few helicopters. I’ve but to hustle my approach onboard one in all these ships, however relaxation assured, I’ll.
Emperors undoubtedly have the cutest chicks of all penguins, and so they’re the one penguins that breed through the Antarctic winter. They will additionally dive deeper than another chook on Earth, all the way down to 500+ meters.
Subantarctic Penguins
The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)
Once you see images of these iconic penguins that quantity within the tens of 1000’s, normally these are king penguins, with their black heads, white tummies, and a wonderful yellow/orange patch on the neck, king penguins stand tall because the second-largest penguin species. They appear similar to emperor penguins, although they not often meet, residing on reverse sides of the subantarctic/Antarctic.
King penguins reign supreme on South Georgia, top-of-the-line locations on the planet to see their huge colonies.
I can nonetheless keep in mind my first go to to St Andrews Bay, dwelling to half one million king penguins. We may hear and scent them lengthy earlier than arriving on shore. That is the place you wish to go to see them at their finest. It was an expertise that introduced me to my knees (actually, kneeling is the easiest way 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 seemingly 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 pink eyes. I’ve bother distinguishing crested penguins; they give the impression of being much like Macaroni penguins, which you may also see on the Falklands. We additionally see completely different subspecies of rockhopper penguins within the New Zealand subantarctic.
The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)
The opposite distinctive penguin you may 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 seashore, 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 the planet and may 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 all the time 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 the entire crested penguins confused as a result of they give the impression of being so comparable, 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, a couple of years in the past. They have a tendency to largely breed on the Antipodes and Bounty Islands.
These days, they’re thought of endangered, and we don’t even have a lot info on their inhabitants, although it’s considered 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 completely white face and chin and outrageous yellow eyebrows. Royal penguins breed solely on Macquarie Island, an Australian subantarctic island.
