I always knew penguins were adorable, but not until today did I appreciate just how entertaining they are. This morning we did a Zodiac tour that brought us close to a colony of Adelie penguins, then this afternoon we went ashore on an island teeming with Gentoo penguins.
The one drawback to hanging out in a penguin colony is the smell: imagine a zoo on a hot day combined with a soupcon of cat piss. Who cares? We saw penguins porpoising (swimming fast, launching into the air, swimming underwater, then popping up again). We saw penguins sitting on nests, hopping on rocks, waddling across ice and snow (with occasional face plants), and screaming at Skuas (predatory birds) that got too close. Their normal vocalizations are almost donkey-like, but with a French accent – hee haw with a guttural effect on the “haw.” They are curious animals; several tottered toward our group to take a closer look.
After leaving the penguin colony, we sailed up the Lemaire Channel, which is around half a mile wide and surrounded by glaciers, jagged peaks, and fantastical ice bergs. Its nickname is “Kodak Channel,” for good reason.
PuffinlessTravel 