Hello again from the Antarctic!
We had a spectacularly beautiful day
yesterday - calm, sunny, warm, with great views of the mountains on
Livingston & Smith Islands. It was almost t-shirt weather hitting 9 deg C
by afternoon. Today it's back to the usual drizzle & soggy penguins. The
chicks are growing fast. Gentoo chicks are already at the crèche phase where they
eat so much that both parents have to go out and forage for them all day.
The chicks remain alone in the colony, but they huddle together with their
peers and do their best to fend off the skuas. It works fairly well,
although they are only 2/3 adult size & pretty defenseless in general. On
sunny days like yesterday, chicks in their warm, fluffy down coats tend to
overheat, so there were hundreds of chubby chicks sprawled on their
bellies with their feet sticking out to dissipate heat. They also pant with their
mouths open when they get hot. The adults are better at thermoregulating
with their flippers, but they were panting too. The fun part to watch
during the crèche phase is the feeding chases. The adults don't recognize their
chicks when they are all grouped together, but the chicks recognize their
parent's voice. Of course when the adult returns from sea & calls its
chicks, all of the nearby chicks are hoping for a free meal, so they perk
up & 5 or 6 of the chicks will head off in hot pursuit of the parent who
immediately turns tail & flees. Long chases ensue with chicks running
screaming after the adult over rocks, other nests, through mud. It's
highly entertaining to watch. Sometimes the adult gets so overwhelmed by the
whole scene (especially as the chicks get to be adult size) that they run right
back into the water to get away. Generally how it works though is only the
true chicks will persist in a feeding chase & eventually they find
themselves away from the crowd & the chick can be fed in peace. It is a
little harder when there are two chicks to feed because they bicker & one
chick usually gets short changed. This year many of the nests only have
one surviving chick. Right now we are also getting a massive influx of banded
known-age birds (penguins we banded as chicks between 1997-2000.) There
are hundreds of two-year olds turning up & starting to look for future nest
sites. Consequently there is a constant bustle in the colonies of young
birds trying to figure out how to be adult penguins - gathering rocks to
build nests, fighting, copulating (although sometimes these youngsters
mount the females backwards & she bucks them off in disgust), more fighting, and
pair bonding. Birds whose nests failed early are also back on site
defending their little square foot of rocks & looking for a future mate (if their
original mate died). The leopard seals are becoming thick around the
island. This year the Chilean biologists are bleaching numbers on their heads for
easier identification. I watched one catch a penguin yesterday & later the
same leopard seal was eating a plump fur seal pup. The leopard seals only
hunt in water. They are formidable predators with big reptilian-looking
heads & a mouth full of big, sharp teeth. The ones around the Cape are
about 10 ft long & probably weigh 900 lbs. For the next few months they'll be
feasting non-stop on inexperienced pups, fledging penguin chicks, and
adult penguins trying to support a family. We can always spot leopard seal kills
by the flock of petrels & gulls diving in for meat scraps as the victim is
tossed repeatedly in the air. It's fascinating to watch. Still no whale
sightings for this year, although the first icebergs were seen to the
south. We also had our first outside contact in 2 months. A Chilean Navy ship
came to drop off two geologists. They were only here briefly, but we were able
to send out some mail, which was nice. On Jan 15, two more "gringos" and one
Chilena will be joining us. It will be great to finally have another woman
around. We are eagerly awaiting fresh produce & our first salad in over a
month. Our next mail shipment (for those who care) is scheduled to leave
La Jolla on Feb 1. This will be the last time I can receive mail. Please do not
send packages, just letters as this is a very limited shipment being
hand-carried.
I hope you are well - happy, healthy, & having an excellent
January.
Take care.
Love, Iris
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