Archangel said:
ok anty, ..... lets cut to the chase..... whats with the penguin fetish?!
Mansi said:
whats behind the name 'Antarctican'
duncanp said:
Sit back, get a drink, cuz this is going to be a long answer....
Back in '98 I went on a 9 day trip to Antarctica, as a friend was an 'expedition leader' working aboard one of the few ships then doing trips to the frozen continent (so I got the trip realllllllllly cheap). Up to that point, my annual vacations had consisted of going to a Caribbean island and veg'ing out for a week or two, so this was a very different experience for me. It wasn't a 'cruise' per se, as the ship was a converted Russian scientific vessel which only held up to 100 passengers in very basic accommodation (and there were only about 68 aboard on that trip). It takes 2 days 'each way' to get from the tip of South America to the Antarctic peninsula, so to help pass the time for the passengers they have lectures about the wildlife we'll see, the history of Antarctic exploration etc (very interesting stuff). One of the lecturers was a photographer who had been to Antarctica aboard the ship many times, and she had the most amazing slides of the wildlife, including many varieties of penguins. She had a shot of a King penguin that was outta this world, as well as pictures of cuuuuuuute little penguin chicks. And she told us of other varieties, like the Rockhopper penguin, and how funny they are to see. I sooo wanted to see a King penguin, after seeing that slide, and also see penguin chicks. But as we would only have 4 days at the peninsula, we wouldn't be able to cover a lot of ground and were only expected to see 3 varieties (Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie). We also hoped to see several varieties of seals (crabeater, fur, weddell, elephant and leopard seals) and whales (mainly humpbacks, but there are orcas, right whales, blue whales and a few others that are sometimes seen). There are, of course, no guarantees that you'll see any wildlife, or that you'll even be able to get ashore, as much of the available experiences are weather dependent and the wildlife can't be controlled.
I really really enjoyed the trip. The scenery there is spectacular: snow capped mountains reflected in sparkling clean water, with glaciers thundering as pieces break off. It was mainly sunny weather on that trip. There are no hotels or stores or anything along the peninsula ...just the occasional small research station. It's very peaceful. A pod of 3 humpback whales came right beside the ship and showed off for about 10 minutes before moving on (and seeing whales closeup, to the point where you can smell their fishy breath, is an awesome experience). These were the only whales we saw on that trip. Once the ship gets to the peninsula, the passengers go ashore 2-3 times a day for 2-5 hours at a time (depending on the location), via Zodiac boats. At our first landing, there were Weddell seals lying on the shore, and we saw all 3 types of penguins at that landing site. Since it was a December trip, there were no chicks, just nesting parents. We did see 2 chicks hatch out of their eggs at that landing site, but other than a quick glimpse, that was it for chicks. We're told to stay 25 feet away from the penguins, but if they come up to you, that's okay. I had one chinstrap come to within about 4 feet of me, and I got a nice pic of it. I've been meaning to scan that photo and post it (*puts that on the to do list*). This trip was the start of my love of wildlife. I just hadn't paid much attention to it before.
Penguins are incredibly funny to watch. Hundreds of them nest together, juuuuust out of pecking range of each other, on rock nests (at lest these varieties of penuins have rock nests, not all of them do). They find each other through their calls, so there's a constant din of penguins 'braying' at each other. As they walk to find their mate, they 'steal' rocks from the nest of their neighbours and then try to 'run' away. But they're terribly awkward on land and it's hysterical to see these little thieves trying to run while being pecked at or chased by the other birds. In some locations the nesting sites are up the side of the hills, so they have to climb up over the snow to get to/from the water where they feed. With the passage of so many penguins over the same trails, trenches (called 'penguin highways') develop. If one penguin is going up and one is coming down, there's only room for one and as they try to figure out this standoff, they engage in all sorts of funny behaviour. They often fall face first into the snow, and one way they travel on land is by 'swimming' rather than walking (they flop onto their bellies and 'swim' along the snow with their flippers). It doesn't sound all that funny as I read this over, but to see it, it's truly comical.
During the course of this short trip, we saw the 3 varieties of penguins mentioned above, as well as Magellanic penguins and one solitary (ie lost...musta been a male who wouldn't ask directions) Macaroni penguin. We saw the humpback whales, and fur and weddell seals. But I wanted to see more, and I wanted to see penguin chicks. So, in 2001, I went on a longer trip to Antarctica. This one lasted 18 days, and went to the Antarctic peninsula via South Georgia and the Falklands.
In South Georgia I finally got to see the King penguins, which are bigger and more colourful than the penguin varieties I'd already seen. Boy, did I ever get to see them...there was one spot where about 200,000 of them were nesting. Just imagine the noise (and, ummm, smell
). I also got to see Rockhoppers, which really do hop instead of walk. And since this trip was in January/February, there were tons of chicks to be seen. Their behaviour is also funny to watch, because they chase their parents around constantly, seeking food. They also look pretty funny as they shed their chick feathers and get their adult feathers...some have little Mohawk hairdos. There's constant motion and noise during the landings, and it's just really fascinating to watch their behaviour.
Soooo, I guess all this was a very long way of saying I really liked my Antarctic trips, and the funny behaviour of the penguins was a big part of it. I wanted to see more varieties of penguins, so visited a few zoos that had them. I bought a few penguin items on
ebay, and all of a sudden friends and co-workers started giving me penguin items, until I had/have quite a collection. So my penguin appreciation kind of took on a life of its own. When I signed up here, I chose the screenname 'Antarctican' just as an alternate to "Penguin Queen".
Sorry that was such a long explanation, but a short answer just wouldn't make sense without the background, IMO. :mrgreen:
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No seriously though, you're often hanging around in the darkside too, what's a nice girl like doing doing in a place like that? 
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