Wawwww I
haven’t been writing in my blog in a long time. Thanks to a really good friend
who motivated me, I will start again (hopefully more often)!
Last
summer, the station was full of adelie penguin, petrels, skuas. Now they are
all gone, and the emperor penguins came back.
Before
presenting the emperors, I wanted to sum up life in Antarctica for an adelie
penguin. OK it is not the season anymore, but afterall, they come back in
October!
In October,
males arrive first, and choose a nest for the coming reproductive season. Their
nests are located more or less at the same spot every year. Their nests are
made of small rocks; this allows the snow to melt faster and consequently to
avoid the egg or the chick to be wet and probably die.
Snow can be
a serious problem for them, sometimes covering them totally. But it also
hydrates them which is critical for their survival ashore.
Afterwards,
the females arrive, and courtship display starts. They sing together, heads up,
flippers opened. I cannot say much about this period, as I arrived too late in
November. Once in pair, they will continue these courtship calls anytime they
met again (after a travel at sea), and with the chick as well. Calls help them
recognize each other, together with visual cues.
Once they
copulated and the female layed 1 or 2 eggs, she will leave to fish, and the male
will incubate the egg for 15 to 20 days.
Then the
female will come back and they exchange role. Male can be very durty after such
a long time spent ashore. You can differentiate them from coming females just
by their plumage color.
Once the
egg hatches (December), everything is going very fast!
Especially chick
growth. At the beginning, the chick is too small, and stays below its parent.
The parents exchange guarding shifts.
But once
the chick is thermically emancipated, it gathers with other chicks in small
huddles, and the parents are both at sea fishing, and coming back more often to
feed him.
In
February, the chicks molt, to get adult plumage.
When the chicks are
ready (mid-February), they leave for their first swimming attempt. They look
terrified until they put their head below the surface. And then they swim
naturally.
An immature
adelie penguin, around 1 year old still do not look as an adult, and miss the
black spot on the chin.
Adults come
back ashore to molt as well late February and March, and they leave as well
eventually, to come back the next season.
I hope I
summarized well an adelie life in Antarctica!
At DDU, as
in all other Subantarctic and Antarctic stations, we celebrated Midwinter on
June 21st. We extended the celebration between June 18th
and June 24th. It is a great opportunity to unify the group, play
games outside when the weather is ok, and enjoy the fact that we spend
already/only half the time planned at DDU!
It is too
late to wish you a happy midwinter, so happy post-midwinter and enjoy your
summer in Northern Hemisphere !
