Aitcho Island, Antarctic Peninsula
In the United States today is Election Day, a very important day for the future of the United States and much of the world. Elsewhere, however, it is business as usual, especially in Antarctica where the summer is short and there is no time for political debates, television ads or lobbying. There is still a bit of mudslinging and quarreling going on, but for penguins, that’s how it goes in a very busy colony.
This morning was surprisingly calm as the Drake mellowed out a bit and we made good speed toward Antarctica. Down here the air is so clear that one of our guests spotted land (the towering mountains of Livingston Island) from 66 nautical miles away! Our first landfall was in the South Shetland Islands, and just next door to Livingston Island on a windswept, wildlife-covered island called Barrientos, or Aitcho Island. Ashore we found Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins bathing in the water (or preening on the beach), waddling (or climbing) to their nests, busily gathering (or stealing) pebbles, building (or scraping out) nests, establishing (or defending) territories, ecstatically calling for a mate (or already bonding with one), and diligently mating (or attempting to do so). Some of the Gentoos already had one of their usual two egg clutch, but the Chinstraps were still just getting together. Many of the penguins were exhausted from all of the activity and were either resting before joining the frenetic activities, or were eating fresh snow in order to obtain some fresh water. The activity level was incredible.
Coming from the United States, a country tuned in to the electronic age and connected by high-speed computers, cell phones, and televisions, it is good to see that some species have more important things to do than just talk politics. Penguins have to get down to business quickly in order to survive, and the pressure to find a mate, court, breed, incubate eggs, raise and feed chicks and head back out into the ocean for another long winter at sea are plenty. Just getting along with your neighbors is difficult for these guys, but they do it because it is important to stick together and it pays off in the long run.
In the US we are (at the very moment I am writing this) voting on how the country will be run. Here in Antarctica penguins do what they need to do in an ecosystem that works out pretty well for all of them. Back home today we vote for a new president; here in Antarctica I vote for penguins.
In the United States today is Election Day, a very important day for the future of the United States and much of the world. Elsewhere, however, it is business as usual, especially in Antarctica where the summer is short and there is no time for political debates, television ads or lobbying. There is still a bit of mudslinging and quarreling going on, but for penguins, that’s how it goes in a very busy colony.
This morning was surprisingly calm as the Drake mellowed out a bit and we made good speed toward Antarctica. Down here the air is so clear that one of our guests spotted land (the towering mountains of Livingston Island) from 66 nautical miles away! Our first landfall was in the South Shetland Islands, and just next door to Livingston Island on a windswept, wildlife-covered island called Barrientos, or Aitcho Island. Ashore we found Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins bathing in the water (or preening on the beach), waddling (or climbing) to their nests, busily gathering (or stealing) pebbles, building (or scraping out) nests, establishing (or defending) territories, ecstatically calling for a mate (or already bonding with one), and diligently mating (or attempting to do so). Some of the Gentoos already had one of their usual two egg clutch, but the Chinstraps were still just getting together. Many of the penguins were exhausted from all of the activity and were either resting before joining the frenetic activities, or were eating fresh snow in order to obtain some fresh water. The activity level was incredible.
Coming from the United States, a country tuned in to the electronic age and connected by high-speed computers, cell phones, and televisions, it is good to see that some species have more important things to do than just talk politics. Penguins have to get down to business quickly in order to survive, and the pressure to find a mate, court, breed, incubate eggs, raise and feed chicks and head back out into the ocean for another long winter at sea are plenty. Just getting along with your neighbors is difficult for these guys, but they do it because it is important to stick together and it pays off in the long run.
In the US we are (at the very moment I am writing this) voting on how the country will be run. Here in Antarctica penguins do what they need to do in an ecosystem that works out pretty well for all of them. Back home today we vote for a new president; here in Antarctica I vote for penguins.
