Useful Island is covered with Gentoo Penguins colonies and we had so much fun watching them! Here are some videos from that day—always maintaining our 5 meter distance except when one crossed in front of us and I had no where else to go except to stand still (as I was hiking up a hill). I know that some of my narrative isn’t all that great but these little penguins rendered me speechless!
Tag: Useful Island
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Useful Island Gentoo Penguin Videos from Jan. 3, 2023 🇦🇶
Welcome to Useful Island! Home of Gentoo Penguin colonies This is a stand off between a Gentoo Penguin and the Skua bird. These birds are known for two things—stealing Penguin eggs and eating baby chicks. We were hiking up the island to see the Chinstrap rookery when these two Gentoo penguins decided to cross my path. It’s very important that we stay on our path and I could not turn around as there were people behind me. So I just stayed still and let them cross. -
1/3/2023: (Good Morning!) A packed agenda 🇦🇶
After we returned to the ship from camping, we had a day full of adventure so no time to rest. Tonight we are exhausted, sun burned (even with lots of sunscreen), and full of memories!
Laura and I both kicked off our morning by adventuring out in the Zodiac. BTW—they split the guests into 4 groups and then call one group at a time for activities – Albatross (our group), Gentoo, Petrel, Humpback. In addition, have loading/unloading zodiacs down to perfection.
We’ve seen a ton of Humpbacks whales, we saw Fin whales, and today we also saw a Minke. I don’t have a picture because they move with a purpose and are back under the water before you can get your camera out.
Morning Zodiac cruise – We landed on Useful Island, the home to Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins. There were penguins EVERYWHERE! Hundreds (if not thousands) of them in colonies, most sitting on eggs. Their babies should be born very soon! Again, we abided by the minimum 5 meter rule but they are curious creatures who wander onto your path so then we have to back away. One such encounter happened while we were hiking up the hillside to see the Chinstrap. They are the cutest birds, curious, and attracted to the color red (because they eat krill who have a reddish color)
Zodiac Cruisin’ in the Gerlache Straight – lots and lots and lots of icebergs! Will try and post some on the photos page when wifi improves 
Two Gentoo Penguins on Useful Island
A Gentoo penguin faces off with a Skua bird…who wants its egg!
Christina’s Journey Journal 