Antarctica : PPP

Penguin Power Prevails (PPP)

Penguins are birds that swim and dive instead of fly. Their wings, which have evolved to become paddle-like flippers, are used in the same way in water as other birds use theirs to fly - they propel themselves through the water like torpedoes by flapping their wings.

I think penguins can fly

While other birds have light, paper thin or hollow bones filled with air chambers that allow them to fly with less weight, penguins have dense bones that allow them to dive easily. They also have webbed feet for steering in water. 

Penguins are black and white for a reason - the colours provide an effective camouflage through countershading. When seen from below, the penguins' white belly merge with the bright water surface while seen from above, the black backs merge with the dark ocean depths, thereby allowing them to hide from predators such as leopard seals and orcas. 

Penguins porpoise - they leap out of water to take a quick breath and quickly dive into the water again. Both porpoising and sudden changes of direction when swimming tend to take predators by surprise, allowing penguins to sometimes escape from their jaws.

Video: Penguins porpoising

The footsteps left by penguins as they porpoise

One of my favourite pictures of a gentoo porpoising
Photo credit: Naz

On land, penguins walk upright, skip, hop and trip over themselves. They remind me of myself. When I walk on snow, I take baby steps, often sinking, losing balance and squealing. Then standing up, I would brush off snow from my pants and look around to see if anyone saw how clumsy I have been.

Video: How I walk on snow

Penguins also toboggan to save energy. They use their flippers and feet to slide their bodies along the ice.

On your belly, get set, GO!

Besides blubber, adult penguins have thick, overlapping feathers that are nearly impenetrable by wind or water. The feathers also trap air to insulate the bodies. Penguins have preen glands at the bottom of their tails that secrete oil used for waterproofing the feathers. They can contort their bodies in amazing ways so as to preen themselves - arranging their feathers to trap air and spreading oil over their feathers:

Preening

Although it is very cold in Antarctica, penguins can overheat. In such circumstances, they ruffle their feathers to break up the layer of insulating air under the feathers. They also hold their flippers up, sometimes flapping, to release heat.

The underside of the flippers are very pink when the penguins are hot

Antarctic penguins nest in colonies on grounds above the snow. The males would bring back stones so as to build nests above the ground. They often make a big display when they add a stone on the nests. Sometimes, they are really naughty and steal from their neighbours. Other times, a female will move about on its nest, accidentally pushing some stones down and benefiting their neighbours with nests below them.

Setting up nests above snow

Video: Steal from thy neighbour

Too greedy - trying to get a rock
which is too big for its beak

When breeding and raising the young, the penguins have to be wary of skuas or snowy sheathbills that stalk in the background. Both feed off penguins and shags as predators, scavengers and thieves. During the penguins' breeding seasons, skuas and snowy sheathbills steal eggs and chicks. Sometimes, the snowy sheathbills would disrupt penguins which are feeding the young, causing them to spill the food on the ground and providing the snowy sheathbills the opportunities to scavenge on the food.

A harmless looking snowy sheathbill strolls by

Skua

Burp

On my Antarctica trip, we managed to see 4 of the 5 Antarctic penguin species (the Emperor penguins live too far south). 

Top L: Macaroni R: Adélie
Bottom L: Chinstrap R: Gentoo 

All staff said they have never ever met anyone who does not like penguins. I am not surprised. The penguins we saw were sooooooooo ADORABLE and were such a laugh (even though they were very serious) that I really wanted to touch one or smuggle one home in my daypack.

Adélie penguin

Adélies with chicks

The Adélie penguins average 58cm and weigh 5kg. They often travel up to 100km to feed and can dive up to 170m or for 6 minutes. They favour sea ice when not breeding.

We saw some Adélie penguin chicks on Petermann Island. The Adélies can lay 2 eggs and incubate for 35 days. The chicks were rather big and fat and had their heads tucked against their parents. At this stage, the chicks have down feathers which do not allow them to go to the seas and look very much like fur balls.

Chinstrap penguin

The Chinstrap penguins are similar in size as the Adélies but weigh less at 3.8kg and dive up to 120m. They like to raise their heads in the air to trumpet their territorial claims and this action is often infectious, causing a racket: 

Video: A noisy Chinstrap colony at Half Moon Island

We saw a few chinstraps every now and then along the way. I was very happy to finally see a colony during our last landing at Half Moon Island. I find them the cutest among the 4 types of penguins. We were fortunate to see some newborns and do I even have to describe how cute they were?

2 newborns

We have a baby!

Chinstrap penguins mating

Gentoo penguin

Among the 4 species of penguins, the Gentoos can dive the deepest at 225m and feed closest to shore. 

Gentoos at Chilean's Gonzalez Videla Base

When they are 3 weeks old, the chicks of the Gentoos are big enough to fend for themselves. They demand such large quantity of food that instead of 1 parent babysitting the chicks, both parents must forage at the same time. The Gentoos are also unusual in that the chicks return to their nesting colony to be fed by their parents for about 3 weeks after fledging.

I have an egg

Leucistic Gentoo
Photo credit: Aaron

Of all the penguins, we saw the Gentoos most often and they were also the most friendly when we were out kayaking. 

On my return trip from Waterboat Point, I also manage to catch sight of the rare leucistic Gentoo going out to sea. Albinism is a genetic mutation that prevents the production of melanin (black pigment) in the body. Leucism, on the other hand, is a genetic mutation that prevents melanin from being deposited normally on feathers, resulting in an exceptional pale coat. (Source: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsand

Feeding/Albinism_Leucism.htm) 

Macaroni penguin

Although there are 11.8 million breeding pairs in the world, less than 10,000 Macaroni penguins breed in Antarctica. The Macaronis lay 2 eggs but the first egg has very little chance to hatch. Firstly, the first egg is 40% smaller than the second. Secondly, incubation does not begin until the second egg has been laid, by which time the embryo of the first egg would be very cold or dead. 

Sleepy head

We saw only 1 Macaroni penguin on our last landing at Half Moon Island. The pasta penguin has been living alone within a Chinstrap colony for the past years. Although the Chinstraps were very noisy, the Macaroni managed to sleep through the din, with its beak tucked between its wing and body. It would raise its head for 2 seconds and then continued to nap again. It was so difficult to catch a glimpse of the Macaroni's face!

Penguin Power Prevails!

Sources: 
Frank S. Todd
Antarctica cruising guide by Peter Carey and Craig Franklin