Hours of Penguin pain
We were sailing down the south-east side of Marion Island at a distance of about 20km, when the shout of “penguin in the water!” began to be heard (although now I reflect back, where else would a penguin be?). Four species of penguin breed on the island, but getting good views of penguins in the sea is the opposite of visiting a breeding colony. As soon as the penguins saw the ship, they bounded away, like mini-dolphins, disappearing into the waves. Most of the time the penguins were underwater, and in the majority of cases only the finder would see the disappearing birds. They were simply too quick for other observers to see them before they disappeared underwater.
In the first two hours of daylight, I failed to see a single penguin, despite multiple birds being called from all around me. As the day wore on, I either got my eye in, or the penguins were more cooperative, as most of us managed to see something of the small flocks of penguins feeding in the sea around the islands.
Macaroni Penguins were by far the most common, with smaller numbers of the iconic King Penguin being seen. A real surprise occurred when a Gentoo Penguin popped up close to the ship, where Andy and I were standing on deck 7. Only about 1,500 pairs of Gentoo breed on the islands and they are inshore feeders, so this was an unexcepted treat. For context, there are 225,000 pairs of King Penguin and 270,000 pairs of Macaroni Penguin breeding on the Prince Edward Islands.
Petrel Pleasure
Another unexcepted surprise was a flypast by a Pintado Petrel. We were told that only four pairs breed on Marion Island, so this bird created some real excitement for the South African birders.
Storm petrels were near constant companions to the ship all day. Grey-backed Storm Petrels feed on larvae found on the patches of kelp that floated past. These tiny seabirds, with a wingspan of only 40cm, were the smallest birds that we saw on the trip:
I never tired of seeing Black-bellied Storm Petrels:
Another small bird that we encountered frequently was Common Diving Petrel. Just slightly larger than a Little Auk, these birds zipped along, just above the waves, often diving directly into the water. 10,000 pairs breed on the Prince Edward Islands, benefitting from the eradication of cats on the island, which was completed by 1991, but still at risk from the seabird-eating house mice that have exploded in numbers since the cat eradication.
What an incredible day around Marion Island: six species of albatross (Snowy, Sooty, Light-mantled, Indian Yellow-nosed, Black-browed and Grey-headed) and three species of penguin (King, Macaroni and Gentoo) made it a really special day.
Next: Pterodroma Tuesday!