Rocks

Brush-tailed penguins (the Adelie, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguin) love rocks. They collect rocks, they steal rocks, they Obsess ... over rocks. Because for these penguins, rocks are safety and security. Rocks are the currency of these penguin colonies. (I won't get into the varying stories of what may or may not be exchanged for rocks .... wouldn't want to pass on hearsay). Rocks are the building blocks of the penguins' nests. They help keep the precious eggs safe and dry as the snowmelt streams trickle down the slopes of penguin colonies in the Antarctic summer.



Here is an Adelie Penguin with a rock. It's got a small pile of rocks collected - it's building a nest. Never mind those molting penguin chicks in the background, which should serve as reminders to this chap that the summer season is coming to an end, and it's no time to be trying to gather rocks and start a nest. Still, many (inexperienced?) penguins are still collecting rocks, stealing them from neighboring nests, lovingly hauling them from whatever source they've found for themselves.

At the surface

When at sea in Antarctic waters, this is about as good a photo of a whale I can hope for. It's good enough to identify the subject, but beyond that, there's not much going on. This first picture is of two killer whales, or Orcas. You can tell from the pattern of black and white that Not Only are there killer whales, but they are "type A". There are 3 types of killer whales in the world (A, B, C) and "A" includes Shamu and most of what we hear about in the US. I'll keep looking for a good picture of a "type B" which occur frequently around the Antarctic Peninsula, and "type C" around the Ross Sea. The killer whales are breathtaking, and one of few species of whale I feel confident identifying from a distance. Their dorsal fins are much taller than most things their size, and are the defining feature most of the time. Of course those white eye patches and markings help too if you get closer.

The most common whale around the Antarctic Peninsula, particularly this time of year, is the Humpback Whale. The humpbacks are always fun, and fairly easy to follow and spot. They are probably the only whale I ever have a chance of getting reasonable pictures of, and even then, I've never gotten a picture of their fascinating faces. I like this picture, though, because you can see the white of the belly through the water.

For the photographic record, I think these were taken with the SLR. I tend to lose track though, as I use both it and the point-and-shoot regularly. Of course, I've missed many fantastic shots during my travels, but am always glad simply to have experienced these incredible animals.

Bus to Antarctica

How would you like to take the bus from Washington DC to Antarctica? Well, Andrew Evans did just that on assignment with National Geographic, and is blogging and twittering his experiences. Here he is taking in the sights of the Southern Ocean.


check it out, and think about where Your next bus might take you.

Antarctic Jeopardy

Category: Another Morning in Antarctica
Answer: There are over 3000 at Damoy Point.
Can you guess the winning question?

And, as usual, penguin picture below. This chick may not be the cutest, but it sure was brave!

antarctic rhythms

A windy, gusty day, snow coming at you horizontally. After this past week I am amazed - I could be describing Antarctica or an eastern US town equally well. Well, here instead of steel and glass and brick, I am surrounded by sheer cliffs of rock and ice. Looking out from the cliffs on a clear day, tabular icebergs stretch toward the horizon. Gloomy gray skies reflect back on the waves. Crabeater seals lounge on chunks of sea ice. I swing my backpack onto my shoulders, check the volume on my radio, and hike uphill. Through snow, over lichen-decorated rock, to the penguins. Rocks coated in guano, some days I scarcely notice the smell. The chicks are adorable, or ugly, sitting in the penguin colony, chasing parents with food, slurping down their krill lunch, picking at their molting feathers, getting in trouble with the neighbors. Adults scamper to and from the water in search of food for their chicks, tobogganing up or down the snowy slope, watching me with curiosity, fear, disinterest. Each has its own opinion of my motives. They build their rock nests, even now as they prepare to take to the water and abandon them to the winter. Pick up a rock, add it to the nest. Over and over. A chick mimics, but can't get a good grasp on the pebble. One penguin stretches it neck, waving its wings and calling out in its ecstatic display. Others join in and soon there's a cacophony. On another day a skua flies low overhead, triggering calls of alarm that race through the colony. The skua divebombs me, perhaps its own chicks are nearby. Each day is different - blue skies, gray skies, waters open at one moment may become choked in bits of ice with a change in wind. Penguins porpoising in the water, milling at the edge of the water, squabbling in the colony.

Photo: An Adelie Penguin Colony with adults and chicks; two adults perform ecstatic displays

Lies, All Lies!

I have a new camera. (This is not a lie.) It's fairly nice, for a point and shoot (digital), but it doesn't have a viewfinder. I knew this was going to bother me,but it was a deal otherwise, and very few of the cameras available where I was had viewfinders anyway, so I went for it. My current trip will be a real test.

Also on the downside, its lens doesn't fit into my binoculars - with my old camera, I would use binoculars to up my zoom. This camera does have a better zoom ... but I did like the binocs trick. (Plus, its a great conversation-starter. Still, people with serious cameras & lenses probably thought I was hopeless. I haven't done a lot of testing and am still curious to see how new zoomed & cropped pictures compare to old binoc-zoomed pictures.)

Taking pictures today, I realized the lie to which my title refers. It wasn't intentional. But some people surely think that all my trip pictures have come from this older camera, which was on its last legs about a year ago. And that's a lie. Truth is, access to a digital research camera with much better features allowed me to take some of those great shots on previous trips. So I have to apologize to all of you who thought that my little p&s did all that heavy lifting. Cause I am not that good a photographer.

I am trying to learn some of the advanced features on my new camera, though to be honest I don't yet understand what an "f-stop" value really means. Some of the ways I can adjust settings are different - I already miss my old white-balance controls - but I am sure that if I take the time to learn this camera, it will be a great improvement. I might try sticking to new-camera pictures for awhile on here.

For those of you not interested in picture-taking details - sorry. Especially since I am not even posting a picture with it!! I hope to have more to report on, and a picture or 2 to share, soon!

PS - The sad news I must report is limited hot cocoa availability ... I will have to pick some up myself when I get the chance .. but I did bring chocolatey snacks, and have lots of good food & drink available, so have no fear.