There are so many images and experiences to share that I am falling behind but I promise that I will keep working on this blog until I have something posted about all my major adventures in Antarctica. In the meantime remember to look through old blogs as my new posts get pushed into that category (since the front page only holds 7 images.

Father Time and Baby New Year conversing at Icestock (midnight December 31, 2008) - as you can see nights are as bright as days in Antarctica during the summer season

For three days in December I had the privilege to spend time with David Ainley and Jean Pennycook at Cape Royds. David has studied the Adelie Penguin colonies at Cape Royds and Cape Crozier since the mid-90s and he is now looking at how penguins are affected by climate change. Jean is an educator who has developed an educational outreach project related to David Ainley's work. Teachers can take advantage of the wealth of information and they can involve their students as well - please visit Penguinscience.com for more information!

Penguins in landscape

childless penguin couple

penguin parents

I had brought a Persian carpet with me to the ice for a weathering project. Jean Pennycook suggested that I bring the carpet to Cape Royds to see if the penguins will walk over it on the sea ice. We found out that not only did they not walk on the carpet they greatly hesitated to pass by it. They never got closer than three feet or so if they decided to risk it at all.

This penguin is coming in from the sea ice after feeding (ready to take over the nest and feed the chicks). The clean belly shows a returning bird as the ones departing have red spots on their belly from sitting on the nest.

This penguin is going out from the colony to feed (the red spots on the belly show dirt from sitting on a nest for some time)

The following sequence of images show an interesting development in our second attempt to place the persian carpet in the path of penguins. This day the wind blew up the carpet and I went out to smooth it down again. While the penguins were waiting, hesitating the pass next to the carpet once I was there and decided to sit down on the carpet they almost immediately decided to pass by me (as the following images attest). Clearly I had proven to them that the carpet is not "bad ice."

One group of penguins in the Cape Royds penguin colony are closely observed in this enclosure. They can only exit through the gate seen here where they pass across a bridge that is actually a very sophisticated scale that measures their weight while a sensor reads the number of the tag that is on their shoulder. This way the weight of the penguins going in and out to feed is monitored and recorded by a computer that sits in a tent next to the enclosure. Since the penguins are tagged when they are chicks their whole development can be followed this way.

This penguin was coming in to the Cape Royds penguin colony from the sea ice (note the clean belly) after feeding. In the pictures that follow you will see how closely he/she passed me while I stood clicking away.

Penguin walking past me on the sea ice

Penguin walking past me on the sea ice

Penguin walking past me on the sea ice

Penguin walking past me on the sea ice

penguins at Cape Royds

last shot of penguin walking past me on the sea ice