Antarctic Expedition. Part 5. Our first penguin colonies.

After being at sea for a few days everyone on board was excited by the prospect of our first zodiac outings - and our first penguin colonies in the South Shetlands. We'd seen both Chinstrap & Gentoo Penguins on icebergs as we got closer to the South Shetlands.

Above: Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins on icebergs

Chilean O'Higgins Antarctic base.

Plancius.

The first zodiac outing was to get close to the impressive basalt columns of  Edinburgh Hill at the end of the McFarlane Straight followed by an afternoon visit to the Chinstrap Penguin colony on Half Moon Island.

The rules are very strict for visitors to Antarctica. You've got to stay at least 5 metres from any wildlife and do nothing to disturb them.  Penguin rookeries aren't for the faint hearted. Their diet is mainly Krill which gives their poo a pink colour. They aren't fussy where they poo and the presence of a rookery can be determined from satellites by the presence of a 'pink carpet'. The smell hits you first followed closely by the noise as youngsters call for their parents and adults argue among themselves. Biosecurity is taken very seriously and we had to wash our boots and outer layers before leaving the colonies and then use Virkon disinfectant baths when we arrived back on board the Plancius. We weren't allowed to kneel or sit and our bags had to be kept off the ground at all times. Unfortunately bird -flu has arrived in Antartica and all that can be done is slow the spread. I'm used to these protocols through ringing with SCAN in the UK but many people were surprised at the lengths they had to go to disinfect their boots and outer layers. We had a 'bio - security' session on board where all our kit had to be checked and cleaned of any organic matter - including zips, velcro and rucksack webbings. Only when everything had been cleaned and checked were you signed off to go ashore.

One of the Chinstraps had a sat tag on it fitted by Chilean researchers to determine how long the adults are away from the nest and how far and where they were going to fish.

Chinstrap with sat tag.

To add to the atmosphere of the location it started snowing! 

Next up were the Gentoo Penguins that seem to be everywhere. In fact we were told that the Gentoo is the only penguin species  that seems to be increasing its range.

Penguins use 'highways' to get backwards and forwards to the sea from their nest sites. These highways are easily seen due to the presence of the 'pink carpet' staining the rocks. We were very careful not to stand in the penguins way when they were using the highways and people were asked to move if it was felt they hadn't realised they were blocking off. We also had our first good views of Snowy Sheathbill at Half Moon Island. Not the prettiest of birds with their scaly bill sheathes but they play an important part in the Antarctic eco-system being scavengers and 'cleaner- uppers' of penguin colonies.

A great experience and we all got back board the Plancius buzzing with what we'd experienced and in need of a hot chocolate and a freshly baked cake!