Antarctic Sound
Perhaps no other creature is as emblematic of the Antarctic as the emperor penguin. Weighing up to 80 pounds, these large and magnificent birds spend the depths of the Antarctic winter on the ice, incubating their eggs and, after nearly 5 months of care, raising a single chick in some of the harshest weather conditions on earth. Only 43 breeding colonies of emperor penguins are known to exist. It was only in 2003 that Chilean researchers located a new colony of the emperor penguin south of Snow Hill Island, one of the most southerly of the archipelago bordering the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was thus with some excitement that we learned from Endeavor’s navigational officer that there appeared to be open water to the south of Snow Hill, and a chance to approach the site where the emperors were known to breed the previous winter. We could never have imagined, however, what spectacular luck we would have in finding members of this colony. Starting with naturalist Richard White’s keen eye finding two young of the year floating on an iceberg at 10:00 the previous night, we were all thrilled by the discovery of no fewer than 16 total emperor penguins before lunch. For even the most seasoned staff, seeing this many emperors was a true treat. Our last view of emperors gave us the opportunity to see something even rarer for this time of year — two chicks still in nearly perfect downy gray plumage. Because most chicks are molting or have gained their adult plumage by this time of year, seeing these two birds gave us the opportunity to appreciate why their image is so often copied in plush toys.
We ended the day at 11:00 pm, following an evening landing at Madder Cliffs on Joinville Island. Home to some 45,000 nesting pairs of adelie penguins, the stop provided an opportunity for researchers with the Lindblad-supported Oceanities Antarctic Site Inventory team to conduct mapping and counting both adelies and gentoo penguins, while many stretched their legs on their way to the summit of a small peak overlooking Antarctic Sound. Oceanities’ conservation studies have been supported on board Endeavor since 2000, and we are most grateful for the logistic support and friendship that Lindblad has extended this project in getting us to areas important for monitoring populations of birds and mammals in the Antarctic. Whether counting penguins, hiking, or watching flocks of snowy sheathbills – Antarctica’s only bird without webbed feet, it was a great end to a full and unforgettable day however you measured it.
Perhaps no other creature is as emblematic of the Antarctic as the emperor penguin. Weighing up to 80 pounds, these large and magnificent birds spend the depths of the Antarctic winter on the ice, incubating their eggs and, after nearly 5 months of care, raising a single chick in some of the harshest weather conditions on earth. Only 43 breeding colonies of emperor penguins are known to exist. It was only in 2003 that Chilean researchers located a new colony of the emperor penguin south of Snow Hill Island, one of the most southerly of the archipelago bordering the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was thus with some excitement that we learned from Endeavor’s navigational officer that there appeared to be open water to the south of Snow Hill, and a chance to approach the site where the emperors were known to breed the previous winter. We could never have imagined, however, what spectacular luck we would have in finding members of this colony. Starting with naturalist Richard White’s keen eye finding two young of the year floating on an iceberg at 10:00 the previous night, we were all thrilled by the discovery of no fewer than 16 total emperor penguins before lunch. For even the most seasoned staff, seeing this many emperors was a true treat. Our last view of emperors gave us the opportunity to see something even rarer for this time of year — two chicks still in nearly perfect downy gray plumage. Because most chicks are molting or have gained their adult plumage by this time of year, seeing these two birds gave us the opportunity to appreciate why their image is so often copied in plush toys.
We ended the day at 11:00 pm, following an evening landing at Madder Cliffs on Joinville Island. Home to some 45,000 nesting pairs of adelie penguins, the stop provided an opportunity for researchers with the Lindblad-supported Oceanities Antarctic Site Inventory team to conduct mapping and counting both adelies and gentoo penguins, while many stretched their legs on their way to the summit of a small peak overlooking Antarctic Sound. Oceanities’ conservation studies have been supported on board Endeavor since 2000, and we are most grateful for the logistic support and friendship that Lindblad has extended this project in getting us to areas important for monitoring populations of birds and mammals in the Antarctic. Whether counting penguins, hiking, or watching flocks of snowy sheathbills – Antarctica’s only bird without webbed feet, it was a great end to a full and unforgettable day however you measured it.
