Where emperors rule the land

A landscape of extremes inhabited by whales, penguins and icebergs, Antarctica has a magnetism like nowhere else.

Jamie

Lafferty

reports from the frozen continent

The emperor did not appreciate being disturbed, especially not by one so much smaller than he. The regent had been lying down on the edge of some fast ice, keeping half an eye on a nearby crabeater seal, when an Adélie penguin shot from the water and landed next to him with a soft bump. The emperor – the largest of all penguins – was momentarily startled, took a second, then pulled himself up to his full height. At 120cm, he’s twice as tall and more than 10 times the weight of the intruder, who wisely waddled off into the white beyond.

Adélie and emperor penguins are two of the world’s 18 penguin species, but they are the only two that nest exclusively in Antarctica. Visitors come to the icy continent for all sorts of things – the abundant whales, the impossible landscapes, the ludicrous history – but whether they are willing to admit it or not, penguins are almost always the most beloved prize. Record numbers of tourists come this far south these days, but since the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, penguins have left visitors with a smile. Writing in his seminal book The Worst Journey

In The World, Aspley CherryGarrard said of the birds: “We saw the little Adélie penguins hurrying to meet us. ‘Great Scott’, they seemed to say… full of wonder and curiosity, and perhaps a little out of breath, they stopped every now and then to express their feelings.” Serious naturalists will tell you that personification is a bad business and not helpful for understanding animal behaviour, but even the most battle-hardened struggle not to look at the behaviour of penguins and see something of ourselves. As CherryGarrard put it: “They are extraordinarily like children, these little people of the Antarctic world.” I have never tried to resist the daft calls of the penguins. In 2022 I was able to return to Antarctica on writing and photography assignments on three occasions. On each, I saw penguins in such numbers and confusion that it was hard to document with my camera, let alone my pen. On South Georgia the mighty kings covered the island in their hundreds of thousands, occasionally