Visiting the Neko Harbor Gentoo Penguins

 

Cute cuddles between this gentoo penguin pair

Friday, November 17 -  Neko Harbor, Antarctic Peninsula

Today is our final day of excursions on the cruise.  We had a fun Zodiac cruise among the ice fields in Neko Harbor already this morning. Now, we had the chance to visit another gentoo penguin colony and to take a snowy hill hike. Already on the Zodiac from our ice cruise, we then followed the small, open track of water that the other Zodiacs had cleared to land on the shore of where the gentoo colony is located.  The penguins were very curious to see us, and a number of them had come down to the landing area from their location higher up the hill.  They waddled right up to us and kept coming close.  We had to stop our walking and/or move out of the way in order to keep from being too close to them. It was much fun to watch their antics.  I walked to one location where a large group of them were nesting. It was interesting to see that two-thirds of them were in the prone position - perhaps that is their preferred way to rest/incubate the eggs? It was interesting that upon landing, we weren’t allowed to stay long on the beach, but had to move up the hill a ways.  This is because of the risk of the nearby glacier, which frequently calves, causing small “tsunami” waves” when it does.

Watching the gentoo penguins at the top of the nearest hill

Care must be taken with the large glacier on the right; prone to calving frequently

Compared to the photo above, you can see a welcoming group of penguins has come to see the Zodiacs

Landing and hiking up to the colony

Enjoying standing on the continental land mass of Antarctica

Fun to watch the antics of this gentoo pair