St. Andrews Bay and Grytviken Whaling Station, South Georgia Island
Counting king penguins in St. Andrews Bay…
Overnight the M.S. Endeavour ran eastward along the north coast of South Georgia to King Edward Point. Early this morning we checked in with the British authorities, and took aboard a team of researchers whose business is to evaluate the biological resources of the island’s many and varied landing sites. One of their evaluations is the size of the islands penguin colonies. By this time of year gentoos, chinstraps and macaronis have finished breeding and dispersed: only king penguins remain breeding. We were about to visit St. Andrews Bay, site of the island’s largest colony of king penguins, so the biologists were glad of the opportunity to travel with us. Once ashore, they disappeared to the far side of the colony to start their count. We took a more leisurely route, approaching the colony through the peripheral ranks of inquisitive youngsters, moulters and courting adults, to the central core of incubating and brooding birds.
And a different-looking penguin…
Normally one penguin of a species looks much like another, and at present practically all the king penguins are indistinguishable from one another in smart blue-grey suits, with the brilliant orange throat and auricular patches and jet-black head that distinguish the species. This one was different - as different as a hippy in a parade of business commuters. A genetic anomaly has provided no black, grey or blue among its plumage – no black cap, no grey tips to the dorsal feathers, and brown boots rather than black, though the golden-orange throat and auricular patches are as normal. Neither the bird nor its neighbours seemed troubled by these anomalies.
Counting king penguins in St. Andrews Bay…
Overnight the M.S. Endeavour ran eastward along the north coast of South Georgia to King Edward Point. Early this morning we checked in with the British authorities, and took aboard a team of researchers whose business is to evaluate the biological resources of the island’s many and varied landing sites. One of their evaluations is the size of the islands penguin colonies. By this time of year gentoos, chinstraps and macaronis have finished breeding and dispersed: only king penguins remain breeding. We were about to visit St. Andrews Bay, site of the island’s largest colony of king penguins, so the biologists were glad of the opportunity to travel with us. Once ashore, they disappeared to the far side of the colony to start their count. We took a more leisurely route, approaching the colony through the peripheral ranks of inquisitive youngsters, moulters and courting adults, to the central core of incubating and brooding birds.
And a different-looking penguin…
Normally one penguin of a species looks much like another, and at present practically all the king penguins are indistinguishable from one another in smart blue-grey suits, with the brilliant orange throat and auricular patches and jet-black head that distinguish the species. This one was different - as different as a hippy in a parade of business commuters. A genetic anomaly has provided no black, grey or blue among its plumage – no black cap, no grey tips to the dorsal feathers, and brown boots rather than black, though the golden-orange throat and auricular patches are as normal. Neither the bird nor its neighbours seemed troubled by these anomalies.
