Penguin Island

First landfall in Antarctica was Penguin Island, where we saw... Penguins. And seals and skuas, which are like seagulls, predatory on penguin chicks and eggs, and scavengers. The researchers on this ship are all Antarctic wildlife researchers, some have been doing it for 30 years. The main guy is a professor at one of the universities in New Mexico, originally from Oregon. All the others are out of Austrailia. SO, I now know more about Antarctic wildlife than I would have ever guessed. I could probably apply for a degree now, it was like an intense university course.

Anyway, hiking up the dormant volcano was an excellent escape from the confinement of the ship and the rough passage. Most of the passengers hiked up there and around the rim. It was chilly but no wind and blazing sun. The UV is intense down there, ozone hole and all. I used SPF 50 and still got a bit tanned.

Me on the top of the volcano, Penguin Island. Note the icebergs, there is a reason our ship has a steel-reinforced hull.

After running up the volcano, I checked out the penguin colonies. These are Chinstrap penguins, zoom in on one and you can see where the name comes from. There are only 6 kinds of penguins in the Antarctic and only 4 types in the areas we were. All of them lay eggs and raise chicks in colonies with the parents switching off caring duties. Of course, now, summer down here, is when they come together and raise their chicks like this. Ha, see, I'm an "expert" now.

Penguin colony and observers. Look close (expand the photo) and you see chicks with parent, some have 2.