PENGUINS RULE THE ROOST

The Romanian zoologist, Emil Racovita, on the Belgica expedition in 1898, couldn’t resist describing the two penguin species that dominated the area in vividly anthropomorphic terms.

The chinstrap, he wrote, could be identified by a ‘thin black line that curls up on its white cheek like a musketeer’s mustache. This gives the penguin a pugnacious air which corresponds well to its character.” Chinstraps are prone to bickering over small patches of territory.

More congenial and cooperative – and colorful – were the gentoo penguins. Racovitza described them as “slightly larger than the chinstrap and more sumptuously dressed,” with their scarlet beaks and feet, and their black heads adorned with a white diadem.

Penguins were very busy in late November when we came across them building nests, mating, and engaging in humorous courtship rituals such as presenting their prospective lover with a snow rock. The paired lovers then would stand side by side, gawking loudly. They seemed to love walking in lines leaving their pink guano in penguin highways.