Antarctic Wild Life

scattered emperor penguins near a rookery during sunset Near an emperor penguin rookery in the Ross Sea, Antarctica.

 

 

 

 

the rookery is a dark band of thousands of bird across the horizon There are about 22,000 breeding pairs of emperors at this emperor penguin rookery.

 

 

 

 

closeup view of a group of emperor penguins Emperor penguins are very curious. There is always a group that will wander over to inspect visitors. These birds are all adults and weigh about 25 to 35 kg, in October.

 

 

 

 

three emperors are resting on their heels and tail-feathers When resting, emperor penguins will balance on their heels and tail feathers. By lifting the feet off the ground, they loose less heat. When the male birds incubate the eggs in mid-winter (these birds here are just resting, not incubating), they keep the eggs on top of their feet, covered by a brood pouch.

 

 

a group of emperors is tighltly packed at the edge waiting to enter the water Emperor penguins feed on marine organisms such as fish, cephalopods and crustaceans. To reach open water, they have to walk long distances over ice, sometimes 50 km or more. Once they reach the ice edge, they congregate in large goups that enter the water together, presumably to decrease the chance of predation by leopard seals, who prey on them.

 

 

an emperor dives into the water across the ice edgeFor an animal weighing a mere 30 kg, emperors are excellent divers, reaching depths in excess of 500 meters, on dives that can last over 20 minutes. Swim speeds can exceed 7 m/s, although 2-2.5 m/s are more typical cruise speeds.

 

 

 

two emperors come flying out of the water in a classic leaping arrival Emperor penguins can be absent from the rookery for a period ranging from a few days to several weeks. The two parents usually alternate in staying with their single chick, throughout the six-month feeding period. The absent parent will return to feed the chick, and to give the other parent a chance to forage.

 

an orca is spy hopping through very thin ice Orca's (also called Killer whales) are thought to prey on penguins as well, although we never observed such interactions at our study sites.

 

 

 

 

an adelie penguin jumping out vertically and upright Adelies are the only other penguins to occur on the Antarctic continent. They are much smaller than emperors. While emperors breed in the coldest of the austral winter, Adelies are absent during this period, and only return to their rookeries in the summer season. As opposed to the emperors, they usually land on their feet when exiting the water.

 

 

a snow peterl alighting on water as if dancing across it Snow petrels are another species of summer breeding antarctic transients.

 

 

 

Snow Petrel skimming across the water surface

When feeding, petrels will frequently "walk" across water, picking floating food bits off the surface, including even small droplets of oil left from other animals' dinner plate.

 

 

Antarctic Skua flying overhead

Skuas are veritable aerial acrobats. They don't like it when people approach their nest too closely, and will attack you by any means!

 

 

6 week old weddell seal pup

 

A weddell seal pup, about 6 weeks old. It has already lost the lanugo newborn fur coat.

 

 

Weddell seal mother and pup at Turtle Rock A weddell seal mother with her fattened, six week old pup at Turtle Rock, near McMurdo Station, Ross Sea, Antarctica. The mother has lost a lot of weight, after having suckled the pup from a birth mass of near 15 kg to the present 80 kg. During this time, the mother rarely enters the water to feed herself. The pup will be weaned in a week or two.

 

 

Closeup of the face of a weddell seal pup

A sleeping weddell seal pup, about 4 weeks old. McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

 

 

 

Check out some cool old pictures from a winter field camp in the Antarctic at: The Great White South

Climb inside a giant antarctic crevasse: Into the Abyss

Check out the LABB pages on Galapagos!

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