This is Antarctic penguin central. Biggest Gentoo penguin waddle on the peninsula. At least 6,500 breeding pairs. That is a lot of penguins. Why are they counted in breeding pairs? First answer is that you need a number that is useful in comparing the size of different rookeries. A breeding pair represents potential new offspring. By counting pairs, researchers can calculate “productivity” (the number of chicks hatched or fledged per pair) to understand if a colony is thriving or in decline. Individuals include non-mating birds, young birds and the many wonderful old birds. Even if you could count these then what would the counts mean? Second answer is that it is easier. Pick the right time of year and all the breeding pairs have a nest. You can simply walk through the rookery counting nests. Might look like a small depression in the ground with a couple of rocks in it but to a penguin, it is a nest. Unlike penguins, nests stay still. They are intrinsically easier to count.
Most of the breeding pairs had long since finished breeding and gone fishing by the time we arrived. This still left quite a few penguins and a lot of smelly guano. We had a brief run ashore by zodiac. Gentoos are often quite curious. We are supposed to stay at least 5 m away from any birds. However, if you stand still and the bird comes to you, then the best you might be able to manage is to retreat a little while ensuring that you do not stand on the birds behind you. Many of the birds we saw were youngsters just losing the last of their fluffy chick feathers. Standing around waiting to take to the water for the first time. Penguins have no natural terrestrial predators in Antarctica, making them relatively fearless of humans. Large birds, such as the skuas and giant petrels, will occasionally take eggs and small chicks. They also scavenge carrion.
In the water, danger comes from killer whales and leopard seals. We clambered back into the zodiac and just as we pushed off from the shore a leopard seal came over to us. The previous day, we had encountered a seal that was curious about the boat. This one had brought us a penguin. The birds are fast in the water, like little torpedoes. Leopard seals are faster and young gentoo penguins on their first trip to the ocean make easy prey. This seal was playing with its prey. Like a cat with a mouse. It would let the hapless bird swim a short distance and then catch it again and bring it back to the boat. Almost felt as if the seal was showing off to us.
Obviously, we watched. A mixture of horror and fascination. Each time the poor penguin was dragged back it was getting weaker and more feeble with its fruitless struggling. I would have liked to rescue the battered bird but, not only was this quite impossible it would also not have been appropriate. We were observing a part of natural life in Antarctica. Something that happens right around the continent every day. Eventually the young penguin was dead. The seal was not done with it yet. They prefer to remove the skin with all the feathers before they eat. To do this, the leopard holds the penguin, by its head, and thrashes it back and forth. Takes a while and is very violent. Every few seconds the leopard seal would pop up in a great shower of spray as it whipped the bird through the air. Eventually the skin peeled back revealing a blood red carcass. The skin, feathers and feet drifted away on the surface of the sea chased by scavenger birds. We got a brief glimpse of the satisfied seal and then it too disappeared.
I think everyone in the zodiac was a bit stunned at what we had just witnessed. There was silence. Our driver, Kevin, thought we could try to circumnavigate Cuverville Island while we recovered our sensibilities. More penguins, more seals and some remarkable scenery. Once again we were incredibly lucky with the weather. Most of the time it is cold, windy, overcast and generally unpleasant here. Today it was sunny and lovely.
We came across another leopard seal relaxing on a chunk of sea ice. He looked at us without concern and actually appeared to be quite cute. Then he yawned and showed us his substantial set of sharp teeth. Not so cute after all.
As we came around the island and were heading back to the ship, we saw a small wooden boat on an island. Strictly, it was just the remains of a small boat. A fur seal watched us carefully and then appeared to indicate to us which direction to go. The boat was something to do with whalers and had been deliberately chained up. Later I discovered that it likely dates back to around 1921.
With that we were done. A steady drive back to the ship after a very exciting day.
