Authored by Catherine Lopes
After an unexpected rough day sailing through the waves, we made it!
Yes, we landed in Antarctica!
It is cold and windy on Aitcho Island for us, but not for these penguins.
We stood still watching them, but only a few of them stood still watching us.
Photo: Aitcho Island with penguins. Credit: Karen Alexander
No words exchange between them, but there are plenty of sounds from the colony. You wonder what they are talking about.
Despite hundreds of us surrounding them, most of the penguins look calm and are carrying out their usual life: playing, fighting, resting, mating.
Many pairs are building their nests, one stone at a time. One is waddling their way up and down searching and carrying, the other one is sitting protecting what they have built.
They are all unique individuals, but they bond in pairs, and they stay together in groups. The harmony is very obvious, and the Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins share this same island.
We are sailing away further south, hoping we have left them in peace, and hoping we didn’t disrupt their highways with our footprints.