The base has been trying to organise visits to the King Emperor penguin colony at Windy Bay. This is an annual trip and one that is greatly enjoyed by all. Indeed, it is a privilege to see these birds and their offspring in their own habitat.
The management attempted to organise visits over the weekend but the past couple of weekends have seen high winds in excess of 20 to 30 knots (known as a 'blow'). The golden rule is that if the wind is blowing at over 14 / 15 knots then walking on the sea ice is prohibited. Sea ice is only tens of centimetres thick and a good gust mixed with a decent sea swell will easily break it up.
A few weeks ago our wintering chef, Chris Walton, got the opportunity to visit Windy Bay and see the King Emperor penguin colony for himself. He took some amazing snaps some of which I included in an earlier post. The photograph below demonstrates the size of the sea ice sheet but only hints at the overall size of the penguin colony.
The management attempted to organise visits over the weekend but the past couple of weekends have seen high winds in excess of 20 to 30 knots (known as a 'blow'). The golden rule is that if the wind is blowing at over 14 / 15 knots then walking on the sea ice is prohibited. Sea ice is only tens of centimetres thick and a good gust mixed with a decent sea swell will easily break it up.
A few weeks ago our wintering chef, Chris Walton, got the opportunity to visit Windy Bay and see the King Emperor penguin colony for himself. He took some amazing snaps some of which I included in an earlier post. The photograph below demonstrates the size of the sea ice sheet but only hints at the overall size of the penguin colony.
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| Windy Bay and the Penguins by Chris Walton |
Two heavy blows later and the sea ice has been broken up with a majority of it being dispersed out to sea.
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| What's left of Windy Bay after a couple of good Antarctic blows |
This is an unmitigated disaster as far as the penguin colony is concerned. With the chicks stranded on sea ice and floating free, the parents will not be able to locate their young and the chicks will eventually die of starvation or become easy prey for Leopard Seals.
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| Small groups of penguins will become stranded on the broken sea ice |
This is the third year running that the ice has broken up early. One can only guess at how this has affected the colony.
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| The sea ice will continue to break up into smaller and smaller pieces |
Thanks to BAS pilot Doug for affording us this amazing photo opportunity
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