Having long days means the exploration never stops. We all feel that this maybe a once in a life time experience so sleep is low on the priority list unless sea sickness means the bed is a refuge. Voy suggests that we head over to a nearby rookery after dinner and there is a good possibility that we may see penguin babies. We are all in! Don decides to take a break and will join us later. We take the dinghy and motor over to Mikkelsen Harbor Rookery. As we get close the obvious smell of the penguin rookery fills our nostrils. We land close to an old wooden boat which is located next to a pile of whale bones. Once again we are in an area that was once teeming with sailors hunting whales.
Check out the rookery behind me. I am standing right beside a penguin highway that is used by the penguins to get to the beach.
Gentoos are very gregarious and rarely stray far from the breeding colony. We approach the penguins cautiously not wanting to intrude on the ones with young or sitting on eggs. They don’t seem to mind and go on with their loud chatter.
The penguin on the left is putting on a display with his neck extended.
The penguin nest is made out of small rocks. Male penguins make their rounds looking for an incubating female and attempt often successfully to steal a rock. They return the rock to their mate and do a bow. We saw this activity several times. It was quite comical.
And then there were the babies….no words needed here
Proud Parents
The baby pecks the bill and the penguin regurgitates food into its young.
Newly hatched!
This station was unoccupied.
This bird called the Brown Skua is waiting for an opportunity to get a penguins egg for food.
Not a bad view to raise your family.
Voy returns to the boat with the crew and I stayed behind to wait for Don on the island. Voy returns with Don. It was fun to share this place with him. The light and the penguin babies made this place magical. Finally as the temperature was dropping it was time to return to our boat. First though Voy had spotted an iceberg that looked to be grounded. He wanted me to hop on it and get my photo taken. He was pretty sure it wouldn’t flip, but just in case the directions were if you feel it moving run as fast as you can and leap into the water towards the dinghy. OK I said as I gingerly stepped onto the ice berg,
All is good!
It was a great day with a variety of experiences.