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Penguin rookeries stretch off to the horizon on Stausis Island, Antarctica.
The most common penguins in Antarctica are the Adele Penguins. The Chinstrap Penguins are also very numerous. These two species often nest on the same islands and practically every island surrounding Antarctica supports at least one penguin rookery. The Adeles are the ones that look like their wearing tuxedos and the Chinstraps have a line around their neck that looks like a strap.
If both species are present the Adeles will always be on the high ground. This is because they arrive to nest earliest in the spring and most of the bare ground is on the higher exposed hills. When the Chinstraps arrive later more snow has melted on the lower elevations so they are able to utilize those areas for nesting.
The sea ice off a penguin rookery island is a busy place. There are penguins returning to feed their young and penguins going to sea to hunt for krill. The problem with the whole scene are the Leopard Seals that hunt the penguins just off shore. To stay away from the seals the penguins, wherever possible, ride the ice flows with the wind and currents rather than getting in the water.
I toke the above panoramic photograph on Stausius Island which reputably has the largest Penguin rookery in the world. One encyclopaedia says there are 4,000,000 and another says there are 11,000,000 Penguins nesting there. Our bird expert aboard the ice breaker estimated there were 400,000 but from any viewpoint there were a lot of Penguins.
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This page was last updated: January 26, 2009