Having had fantastic weather conditions over the past few
days, it only seemed appropriate that the guests get a real taste of “summer”
in the Antarctic Peninsula. Melissa and
I headed out on the first boat to begin our counting at Brown Bluff. Brown Bluff is home to ~20,000 pairs of
Adélie penguins and ~600 pairs of Gentoo penguins. Well, to be more specific,
598 pairs according to our count. We
counted the Gentoo nests in about an hour and a half, but did not attempt to
count the Adélies. Counting 20,000 nests
would take days and as these birds nest over large portions of the island,
counting is typically done using satellite imagery. As we finished up our count of Gentoo nests,
finding several nests with small chicks (1-3 days old), the weather began to
turn.
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| Kate and I not letting little snow storm stop us from counting Gentoo penguin nests |
The snow was blowing horizontal and gusting up to 30
knots. The snowfall was beautiful with
large, soft flakes falling silently between gusts of wind completely changing
the landscape we were part of just moments ago.
Within minutes the penguins
sitting on their nests began to disappear into their surroundings. Penguins that were on nests hunkered down
ensuring the eggs or chicks underneath stayed nice and warm, not minding the
blowing wind or sheet of snow slowly accumulating on their backs.
Despite the cold, many of us stayed out at the penguin
colony for nearly 3 hours. Watching
these birds is such a treat and is something that I do not always have the time
to do as counting typically takes much longer.
Today was a perfect reminder of how quickly conditions in the Antarctic
can change...and that Christmas is only 2 days away!
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| Melissa and I counting high in the colony during the snow storm. Can you spot us? |
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| Gentoo penguins weathering the storm |
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| March of the Adelie penguins |
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