Fair warning:
Do not visit us in the next 6 months if you do not want to see pictures
of penguins!!!
Only a couple of miles from our stop yesterday, Cuverville
Island is home to many Gentoo penguins.
They differ in a white patch behind the eye and a tail that they drag
behind them when walking and fan at times on the nest. You smell the island from a mile
away, (Kind of like Iowa). The sky was grey but little wind and
moderate temperature. We had a
short Zodiac ride to the beach.
Penguins everywhere. They
are never boring to watch or photo (thus the warning). We climbed over the ice and snow about
200-300 vertical to a several small rookeries. At the top, we enjoyed a sip of champagne, the residual of
an engagement that had occurred only minutes before and was provided to the
couple by the ship’s staff. The
climb for us was mostly for exercise, but the penguins do this multiple times a
day to feed and return to feed the young. Of course for those not as foolish as us there are many
nesting sights right at shoreline. All along the shore and out to the boat they
darted and porpoised lightening fast and streamlined in the water. They walk up and down this hill
awkwardly.
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| Antarctica Seabourn style |
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| Feeding a chick |
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