Penguin-obsessed at Port Lockroy.... Here is another note from Nikki, on her favourite topic - penguins (and not the chocolate biscuit kind!).
Observing the reproduction cycle of the gentoo penguins was an absolute fascination for me. As we had arrived on base at the very start of November, we had chance to follow our plucky gentoos from when they were just a tiny glint in a frisky adult's eye, through to the juvenile birds fledging into the frigid waters off of Goudier Island - quite a privilege!
From the nest-building with hundreds of little pebbles (which were constantly on the move, thanks to cheeky pinching of prized samples) in November, to watching the gentoos battle with the sheathbills and skuas to keep their eggs safe from harm in December. My absolute favourite time was when the chicks started hatching; the first one spotted by visitors to the island on 21 December! I could hardly believe the minute scale of their little wings, and the huge size of their bellies in comparison, full of regurgitated krill and fish no doubt! Time flew by as they doubled and tripled in size, and by mid-January we were overwhelmed with massive bundles of hungry fluff with huge orange feet, falling over rocks and each other whilst making a mad dash after their next meal! It was an absolute joy to watch visitors to Goudier Island stop and gaze in awe at the penguin spectacles – they could almost always be guaranteed to perform!
Whilst all wildlife at Port Lockroy is of course subject to the IAATO guidelines (and five-metre rule) the chicks don’t seem to know about this, and there seemed no stopping their curiosity. Green wellington boots, backpack and parka toggles seemed to appeal most. Visitors quickly learnt to just crouch down and be still for a few minutes, crossing their arms to avoid the temptation to touch one of the chicks, and they would often be rewarded by a moving experience – on the gentoo’s terms. It is astonishing to think how quickly the juvenile penguins become reading to fledge and hit the water. In our last week at Port Lockroy (end Feb/beginning March) we saw numerous timid gentoos hovering by the water’s edge, paddling around in the rockpools and testing their new feathers. The gentoo chicks must first moult their downy ‘baby fluff’ before they become waterproof, resulting in lots of patchy and ‘punky’ looking juveniles, who ran amock like teenage tearaways! I wonder where they are now and how they like life in the open ocean…..
Stay tuned for more of Nikki's 'Port Lockroy ponderings' in the next few days!
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