Island living is easy...if your a penguin.
HELLO WORLD!
We have icebergs! We'll make landfall sometime around 11 today. Keep posted!
We landed on a small archipelago island call Aticho Island. In order to do so, we went though a decontamination process of first vacuuming and thoroughly cleaning all bags boots, etc. We then were loaded onto zodiacs and across the sea we went. When we landed, we were instructed on proper penguin protocol. Just in case you're curious -
1. Stay 15 feet away.
2. If one comes toward you and gets really close - stand still and let it figure out what it wants to do.
3. No picking up the penguins and putting them in your bag, no matter how cute they are.
4. Stay within the traffic cones so you don't ruin their environment.
So the penguins we saw today were gentoos and chinstraps. The gentoo's were funny to watch. They make nests out of rocks and continually keep working on it even when the they are incubating their egg. One penguin will go out and steal a rock from another penguins nest, and bring it back to their own nest. If the victim of theft tries to get it back, the thief squawks at him/her until she goes away. Another weird thing I learned about them is that they get really hot, so they lie down in the snow to cool off. They're really just a feathered lump of fat, and that fat keeps them warm. So they cool off with a snow bath, and then eat some snow.
A predator of these birds, the skua, well, its a clever bird. It'll team up with another skua, and both will land near a penguin nest. One of the skua's will go and pull on the penguins tail feathers, and when the penguin moves to defend itself, the second skua (the one the penguin didn't really see) will snatch the egg. They'll fly off with it and then share it. Cooperation people. They also like to eat penguin chicks, so I bet the penguins can't stand the buggers. You can also tell what they have been eating by the massive amount of penguin poo on the island. We were instructed that no, thats not soil, there is no soil, thats penguin poo. Tons of penguin poo. The poo thats red indicates they have been eating krill. The krill they eat is about the size of your pinky finger. One more poo fact - scientists use the amount of poo seen on the island to estimate the population of penguins there. This is done because its impossible to count them - there are just too many. Unfortunately, these counts show that they're in decline.
Off the stern bow we just saw a group of humpbacks, and about 5 minutes later a beautiful iceberg drifted by. We had an amazing presentation on whales last night that I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you SHSers when I get back.
We have icebergs! We'll make landfall sometime around 11 today. Keep posted!
We landed on a small archipelago island call Aticho Island. In order to do so, we went though a decontamination process of first vacuuming and thoroughly cleaning all bags boots, etc. We then were loaded onto zodiacs and across the sea we went. When we landed, we were instructed on proper penguin protocol. Just in case you're curious -
1. Stay 15 feet away.
2. If one comes toward you and gets really close - stand still and let it figure out what it wants to do.
3. No picking up the penguins and putting them in your bag, no matter how cute they are.
4. Stay within the traffic cones so you don't ruin their environment.
So the penguins we saw today were gentoos and chinstraps. The gentoo's were funny to watch. They make nests out of rocks and continually keep working on it even when the they are incubating their egg. One penguin will go out and steal a rock from another penguins nest, and bring it back to their own nest. If the victim of theft tries to get it back, the thief squawks at him/her until she goes away. Another weird thing I learned about them is that they get really hot, so they lie down in the snow to cool off. They're really just a feathered lump of fat, and that fat keeps them warm. So they cool off with a snow bath, and then eat some snow.
A predator of these birds, the skua, well, its a clever bird. It'll team up with another skua, and both will land near a penguin nest. One of the skua's will go and pull on the penguins tail feathers, and when the penguin moves to defend itself, the second skua (the one the penguin didn't really see) will snatch the egg. They'll fly off with it and then share it. Cooperation people. They also like to eat penguin chicks, so I bet the penguins can't stand the buggers. You can also tell what they have been eating by the massive amount of penguin poo on the island. We were instructed that no, thats not soil, there is no soil, thats penguin poo. Tons of penguin poo. The poo thats red indicates they have been eating krill. The krill they eat is about the size of your pinky finger. One more poo fact - scientists use the amount of poo seen on the island to estimate the population of penguins there. This is done because its impossible to count them - there are just too many. Unfortunately, these counts show that they're in decline.
Off the stern bow we just saw a group of humpbacks, and about 5 minutes later a beautiful iceberg drifted by. We had an amazing presentation on whales last night that I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you SHSers when I get back.
So great to hear you on the intercom today! Can't wait to see all of your pictures! Best wishes for the experience of a lifetime :)
ReplyDeleteEShea & Period 1 613ers
Look forward to your updates. This is just so cool! Opportunity of a lifetime.
ReplyDelete`Mrs. Wallace
SO great to hear you at school this morning!!! Are you sure you can't bring back a penguin??
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Your satellite phone conversation with the school was awesome. You came across really clear. There wasn't a student in my class that wasn't hanging on every word....and they were smiling!!!!
ReplyDeleteHearing you this morning was THE coolest! I projected some images of Brown Point as you were talking so the kids could get a visual of what you were looking at. WE WERE BEYOND EXCITED TO HEAR YOUR VOICE!
ReplyDeleteKeep making the human race proud brother, love these updates
TB
It was so cool to hear you over the intercom today all the way from ANTARCTICA!!!! That is wild!!!!! Thank you for sharing your adventures with us! Keep up the good work and have fun with the penguins!!!!
ReplyDelete~Karissa
Can't imagine anyone more deserving of this opportunity than you!! Congratulations, take lots of pictures!
ReplyDeleteSuffield High School could not be prouder!! Once we hear Paula's voice come over the intercom announcing your call everything stops and all ears are on your phone call and your adventures! Love it! Enjoy every moment.
ReplyDelete