Stock Photo Gallery: Penguins!
I’m gradually revisiting my website galleries and improving them, removing images of lesser quality (unfortunately a lot of those!) and updating existing galleries with new material. If you enjoy penguins please take a look at my collection of Penguin Photos. With one exception**, all of these penguin photos were taken on a single long trip I made to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and the Antarctic Peninsula (see my lengthy PDF trip journal if you want the deets, or you can view the same info as a series of blog posts). I was thrilled, nearly everyday of my trip to the Southern Ocean, to see penguins in the wild, sometimes in vast numbers, and I cannot wait to return to those places again. Within a few months of returning, one of the images was selected as the cover and inside spread in Nature’s Best, which was a real treat as I had not had an image published in that great magazine in some years. Thanks for looking!
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| King penguin colony. Over 100,000 pairs of king penguins nest at Salisbury Plain, laying eggs in December and February, then alternating roles between foraging for food and caring for the egg or chick. |
** The exception is the Galapagos Penguin underwater photo which was made in, you guessed it, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.
Surfing Penguins
Last year I got to cross off one of my bucket list items: surfing penguins. I was fortunate to see surfing gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) on New Island in the Falkland Islands. After hiking around some of New Island for most of the afternoon, visiting a couple of penguin and cormorant rookeries, I found myself at sunset on a gorgeous, long flat sand beach. The light was warm and gold, there was no wind and it was warm enough to wear just a light sweatshirt. All the others on the M/V Polar Star had left to return to the ship and I had the beach to myself, with penguins coming ashore from their foraging excursions in small groups. The gentoo penguins would ride the waves in at top speed, skizzing** across the shallow water and quickly flipping upright to land on their feet. Quickly they would shuffle across the beach and walk up onto the adjacent hills to find their nests and settle in for the evening.
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| Gentoo penguin coming ashore, after foraging at sea, walking through ocean water as it wades onto a sand beach. Adult gentoo penguins grow to be 30″ and 19lb in size. They feed on fish and crustaceans. Gentoo penguins reside in colonies well inland from the ocean, often formed of a circular collection of stones gathered by the penguins. Image ID: 23830 Species: Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua Location: New Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
**another invented word, my third this year. Skizzing is like “skimming” only much better.
Photos of the Falkland Islands on Photoshelter
Natural history stock photos of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
I have placed a selection of my Falkland Islands photos on my Photoshelter site, which makes it easy to offer a slideshow:
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Photos of the Falkland Islands - Images by Phillip Colla |
Photography Expedition to Antarctica, South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands
I’ve finally gathered blog posts and select images into an informal report of my trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands in January 2010, which is available along with my other articles, reports and downloads. This trip was so much fun, and so rich in wildlife and photography possibilities, that I am already planning two more trips to southern waters to see more. The blog posts from which this article originates are filed under “Southern Ocean“.
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A Photography Expedition to Antarctica, South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands
An informal report and collection of memories and images from my trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands in January of 2010. |
En Route to South Georgia Island
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 52° 33' 3.31" S, Longitude: 48° 52' 20.24" W, Coord: -52.55092°, -48.87229°
Filed under: Albatross, Falklands, South Georgia Island, Southern Ocean on 3/11/2010
En Route to South Georgia Island, Wandering albatross in flight
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| Sunset clouds create a colorful arch, spanning the heavens from horizon to horizon, over the open sea between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. Image ID: 24073 |
It is a three day sail from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia Island. Day 1 dawned with leaden gray skies that soon clear, at which time the weather can only be described as great, with following seas, light winds and very little swell. I spent the day on deck trying to photograph and identify seabirds and spot whales. Sunset was stunning, with an arch of red and orange clouds that required a 180-degree fisheye lens to capture in its entirety. Day 2 brings my first Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans), enormous and elegant birds that soar over the open ocean swells, arcing and diving to take full advantage of the updraft created by each passing wave.
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| Wandering albatross in flight, over the open sea. The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, with the wingspan between, up to 12′ from wingtip to wingtip. It can soar on the open ocean for hours at a time, riding the updrafts from individual swells, with a glide ratio of 22 units of distance for every unit of drop. The wandering albatross can live up to 23 years. They hunt at night on the open ocean for cephalopods, small fish, and crustaceans. The survival of the species is at risk due to mortality from long-line fishing gear. Image ID: 24071 Species: Wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans |
Wandering albatross have the largest wingspan of any living species of bird, over 11 feet from tip to tip. When one wandering albatross passed alongside the boat very close I was able to hear the wind as it parted and passed over the wings of this magnificent bird. The wandering albatrosses glide almost the entire time they are in sight; their aerodynamics are so remarkably efficient they rarely need to flap their wings. Most excellent. I am glad to have been able to see this species of albatross out here in the middle of the ocean, where it is so obviously at home and I am so obviously not. The oft-quoted ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy said it well upon sighting his first Wandering Albatross in 1912: I now belong to a higher cult of mortals, for I have seen the albatross!
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| Sunset viewed through the window of my cabin on the M/V Polar Star, somewhere between Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. Image ID: 24097 |
At one point a storm of prions and other small seabirds gather aloft behind the boat, dipping the beaks into the water as they flit and hover above the ocean’s surface. It seems to me they are feeding. Simultaneously we spot our first whales. The fact the two species are present here is no coincidence — we must be in an area of food, perhaps krill. Much guessing among my shipmates ensues as to what species of whales they are. I refuse to speculate early on, as I have learned from many hours spotting whales that I need to see at least the dorsal ridge or fluke, preferably both, to hazard a guess. Gradually I decide that they are all fin whales, based on the manner of their round out and dive, the shape and color of their rostrums and their dorsal fins, and their blows. The flock of small birds and our whale sightings eventually lessen, indicating we are leaving the feeding zone (if that is indeed what it was). As the day wears on, periodic individual wandering albatrosses are seen soaring around the M/V Polar Star, always angling and turning to best use the updrafts of the swells to glide. Since the wandering albatrosses tend to stay at a distance from the boat, I needed my longest lens and a teleconverter (500+1.4x), a heavy combination to handhold on the deck a rolling boat. I took a lot of photos and was lucky to manage a few sharp images. I go to bed wondering what South Georgia Island will look like when we arrive tomorrow.
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| Image ID: 24092 Species: Wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans |
Next: Approaching South Georgia Island
Previous: Steeple Jason, West Falklands
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
Steeple Jason, West Falklands
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 51° 2' 7.58" S, Longitude: 61° 13' 44.93" W, Coord: -51.03544°, -61.22915°
Filed under: Albatross, Falklands, Southern Ocean on 3/10/2010
Photos of Steeple Jason Island and Black-browed albatross, West Falklands, Falkland Islands
Steeple Jason, one of the Jason group of islands, is to be our only landing today. There has been quite a bit of anticipation for this visit. It is considered one of the major landings of the trip, the location of one of the world’s finest natural spectacles. Lots of mention has been made already of how superlative this place is. A couple people who have been here before suggest that it is one of the world’s “top 10” wildlife scenes. Morning dawns for us on the southwest side of the island, with myriad birds flying about and cacophonous sounds — an enormous bird rookery — coming from the island about half mile away. The breeze brings with it the scent of the colony. I love that scent! To my dying day, the distinctive briny odor of a shore covered in centuries of guano, borne on a fresh ocean breeze, is something I will always associate with remoteness, wildness and the sea. It is the smell of a vast number of seabirds. I have smelled it in the Galapagos Islands, at tiny Rose Atoll, at Cocos Island, in the Sea of Cortez and now in the West Falklands. It is the smell of life, huge amounts of life, life that is intrinsically bound to sea and air.
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| Black-browed albatross in flight, against a blue sky. Black-browed albatrosses have a wingspan reaching up to 8′, weigh up to 10 lbs and can live 70 years. They roam the open ocean for food and return to remote islands for mating and rearing their chicks. Image ID: 24145 Species: Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys |
Steeple Jason is steep and rugged, with jutting serrated seacliffs that raise the ramparts of the island high above the ocean. Sections of lush green tussock grass are mixed with broad areas of reddish brown, shorter vegetation. Around much of the island’s western perimeter a white collar marks the seabird colony that lines the coast. Surf pounds the edge of the island, tossing spray high in the air. With a little tectonic nudge, Steeple Jason could easily be two islands. As it is today, the north and south portions are linked by a thin, lowlying isthmus that offers two landing sites, one on each side.
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| Straited caracara, a bird of prey found throughout the Falkland Islands. The striated caracara is an opportunistic feeder, often scavenging for carrion but also known to attack weak or injured birds. Image ID: 24125 Species: Striated caracara, Phalcoboenus australis |
Soon after dawn the freshening wind and swells cause us to move to the other side of the island where we will land at the more sheltered of the two locations, one with thick stands of bull kelp and macrocystis kelp. I admire the lush kelp forest lining the shore and wish I could dive here. In spite of some trepidation on the part of the staff responsible for getting us safely onto the slippery rocks, the landing is not a problem. Within minutes after starting to hike around the north half of the island I see a caracara take a penguin chick. I feel like Marlin Perkins.
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| Striated caracara feeds upon a gentoo penguin chick it has just killed. Image ID: 24086 Species: Striated caracara, Gentoo penguin, Phalcoboenus australis, Pygoscelis papua |
I have switched from my waterproof muck boots to my hiking shoes for the easy one-mile walk to the colony of black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys). It is warm and sunny, with a few clouds - a great morning for a walk. The trail is several hundred feet above the ocean, which boils down below along the rocky coast. I pass a pair of striated caracaras on some rocks. They are comfortable with my presence so I sit and watch them closely. This seems unusual for raptors.
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| Black-browed albatross colony on Steeple Jason Island in the Falklands. This is the largest breeding colony of black-browed albatrosses in the world, numbering in the hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs. The albatrosses lay eggs in September and October, and tend a single chick that will fledge in about 120 days. Image ID: 24078 Species: Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys |
After a short while I reach my first view of the colony. It is a fantastic assemblage of black-browed albatross extending along several miles of coast, ringed by tussock grass and shadowed by a lush green ridge above. It is the principle black-browed albatross colony in all the world. Light winds are fostering much flight activity this morning as parents leave or return to the nest, taking turns caring for their chick and foraging at sea. Constant and loud — but not unpleasant — albatross vocalizations are heard, a mix of croaking, high-pitched screeching and subtle clucking. Some of the larger chicks are left alone. Striated caracaras are constantly on the prowl for such easy prey and over the course of a few hours relaxing at the colony’s edge I see a couple of caracaras carrying away a meal. Eventually, most of our group makes the hike and arrives along the edge of the colony. We all stand in the waist high tussock, enjoying the incredible array of life spread out before us. Eventually I have had enough sun and feel it is time to hike back around towards the island’s isthmus where we landed, to see what else there is to find. In a cove there is a constant stream of gentoos returning from the sea (and some departing), leaping out of the water onto rocks. Back at the gentoo colony that I saw first this morning, the parent of the same dead chick still guards her offspring, keening occasionally and charging the caracara that continues to try to pick off a piece of the chick’s carcass. It is a sad scene. The fortitude of the gentoo in the face of such inevitable and foregone tragedy is astonishing.
After some hours ashore I am now pretty hungry, and eat three sandwiches that the crew has brought ashore to the landing as I sit beside the ocean and realize how fortunate I am to be on this spectacular island. I shoot some videos of the rocky coastline before returning to the boat. I realize that, photographically, Steeple Jason is one of the richest settings I have ever seen. I could easily have used every lens I own, from 15mm fisheye to my longest telephoto. As the M/V Polar Star motors away from the island, black-browed albatrosses and giant petrels fly alongside. After sunset I stand on the deck and photograph them with a flash, making some interesting images. We are now on our way to South Georgia Island, a three day sail.
All of my photography from the trip is linked to the location where the images were taken. If you have Google Earth, you can see all of my photos from Steeple Jason overlaid at the exact location they were taken.
Next: En Route to South Georgia Island
Previous: Carcass Island, Falkland Islands
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
Carcass Island, Falkland Islands
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 51° 18' 41.18" S, Longitude: 60° 31' 20.42" W, Coord: -51.31144°, -60.52234°
Filed under: Falklands, Southern Ocean on 3/8/2010
Photos of Carcass Island and Gentoo penguins, Falklands
Following our cloudy, drizzly, wet morning on the highlands of Westpoint Island, the weather transitioned to sunny, breezy and warm as the M/V Polar Star made its way to Carcass Island. I was curious about the ominous-sounding name, envisioning dead animals and stench. In fact, the island is named for the HMS Carcass which surveyed the island in 1766. (Why that ship was named for a dead body is beyond me.) We landed in Dyke Bay, across from the island’s only settlement which we could just see in the distance. Our direction, however, was the opposite way, across a low-lying isthmus to Leopard Beach. We walked perhaps a third of a mile across the isthmus, passing several ponds (brackish? salt water?) alongside which upland geese (Chloephaga picta) were meandering.
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| Upland goose, male, beside pond in the interior of Carcass Island near Dyke Bay. Image ID: 24011 Species: Upland goose, Chloephaga picta Location: Carcass Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
Reaching a sand dune rise on the far side of the isthmus and looking over the top, we were greeted with the beautiful sight of long Leopard Beach below. The waters fronting the beach looked tropical, with light emerald shallows and deep green water further offshore.
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| Visitors watch gentoo and Magellanic penguins on beautiful Leopard Beach, coming ashore after they have foraged at sea. Image ID: 23973 Location: Carcass Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
This gorgeous beach, one of several we were fortunate to visit in the Falklands, was host to throngs of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) and Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) which were coming from and going to sea. The Magellanic penguins gather in burrowing colonies, living underground in what looked like big gopher holes. The gentoos, on the other hand, gathered in exposed circular colonies made of small pebbles, set a few hundred yards in the interior of the island. A long sand dune, covered in tussock grass, offered some small protection from onshore winds, but really what it constituted was something of a barrier to the penguins as they walked to and fro between the ocean and their colonies. Paths through the tall (overhead to the penguins) tussock grass were obvious, testament to the continual passing of the penguins.
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| Gentoo penguins walk through tussock grass. After foraging in the ocean for food, the penguins make their way to the interior of the island to rest at their colony. Image ID: 23970 Species: Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua Location: Carcass Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
Eventually I made my way down to the sand to admire the penguins coming ashore. I spotted a Magellanic oystercatcher (Haematopus leucopodus), some Steamer ducks and kelp geese (Chloephaga hybrida), and on the way back to the boat, one of the many LBB’s I failed to identify on the trip.
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| Magellanic penguin, juvenile, coming ashore on a sand beach after foraging at sea. Image ID: 23969 Species: Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus Location: Carcass Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
All of my photography from the trip is linked to the location where the images were taken. If you have Google Earth, you can see all of my photos from Carcass Island overlaid at the exact location they were taken.
Next: Steeple Jason, West Falklands
Previous: Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 51° 20' 58.16" S, Longitude: 60° 42' 45.68" W, Coord: -51.34949°, -60.71269°
Filed under: Falklands, Southern Ocean on 2/23/2010
Photos of Westpoint Island and Rockhopper Penguins, Falkland Islands
Morning finds us at Westpoint Island. We can only see about 200’ up into the rolling green hills; heavy cloud cover obscures everything above that. It looks wet in the hills. Our zodiac lands on a small boat ramp, one of the few “dry landings” we will have during the trip. We are told we have the option of hiking 1.5 miles to the albatross rookery, or we can hitch a ride on a Land Rover. I opt for the latter. The countryside is pastoral, lush and soft and would be difficult for most vehicles, but the sturdy Rover has no problems.
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| Colony of nesting black-browed albatross, rockhopper penguins and Imperial shags, set high above the ocean on tussock grass-covered seacliffs. Image ID: 23935 Species: Black-browed albatross, Rockhopper penguin, Imperial shag, Thalassarche melanophrys, Eudyptes chrysocome, Phalacrocorax atriceps Location: Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom  View this Image in Google Earth! |
The “road” is somewhat ambiguous. We roll by some old wooden gates, a few windmills and some sheep. It is foggy and drizzling. I feel British. Soon we reach a colony of black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys), Imperial shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps) and rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) dramatically set on bluffs high above the sea. This is our first bout with tussock grass. It is rumored to be awkward to walk through, but at this spot the waist-high maze is fairly easy to navigate.
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| Western rockhopper penguin, standing atop tussock grass near a rookery of black-browed albatross. Image ID: 23932 Species: Rockhopper penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome Location: Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom View this Image in Google Earth! |
The edge of the colony abuts the tussock so that we can stand just a few feet away from the birds but still be behind large tufts of grass. The sounds are wonderful: wind, penguins vocalizations, clucks by the albatrosses. I brought a long lens and immediately realize it is overkill. I return to my bag and pull out my widest lens so that I can shoot some video of the colony.
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| Black-browed albatross, adult on nest with chick. Image ID: 23946 Species: Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys Location: Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom View this Image in Google Earth! |
I change locations on the periphery of the colony a few times, photographing and shooting video. At one spot, some rockhoppers march to a small creek to bathe and groom. After a few hours it is time to return to the landing, in the Land Rover again. Such a smooth ride, I must get one of these. We are offered tea and bisquits at the settlement cottage at the landing. I feel British some more. We return to the boat for lunch, and reposition to Carcass Island.
All of my photography from the trip is linked to the location where the images were taken. If you have Google Earth, you can see all of my photos from Westpoint Island overlaid at the exact location they were taken.
Next: Carcass Island, Falkland Islands
Previous: New Island, Falkland Islands
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
New Island, Falkland Islands
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 51° 41' 37.03" S, Longitude: 61° 15' 58.96" W, Coord: -51.69362°, -61.26638°
Filed under: Falklands, Southern Ocean on 2/22/2010
Photos of New Island, Falkland Islands
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| Tall seacliffs overlook the southern Atlantic Ocean, a habitat on which albatross and penguin reside. Image ID: 23809 Location: New Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
Today is New Years Day, an appropos date on which to land at New Island in the Falklands, our first landing of the trip. Set next to the ocean in a small bight is New Island Settlement, a picturesque set of cottages at the edge of the bay above a sandy beach. We depart from the boat in zodiacs for the shore, leave our dry bags and life preservers in a pile on the beach, and begin an easy walk over wet, grassy hills to a rockhopper rookery. Flightless steamer ducks, kelp geese and upland geese mill about on the sand and through the tall grass. The weather is quite mild so I only need shorts and a light fleece under my foulies. The rockhopper colony is located at the top of seacliffs several hundred feet above the ocean, in a small bowl-shaped depression. Black-browed albatross and imperial shags (cormorants) are mixed in and around the colony as well. To the right of the colony, cut through the cliffs, is a gully that runs steeply down to the water. It is a thoroughfare for rockhoppers, a way for them to pass from the sea to their colony above. Clean penguins coming from the sea pass up the gully to their nests, while muddy penguins descend. I make my way down the gully carefully, eventually reaching the rocky shore. Many rockhoppers are scattered on the rocks, coming and going to sea. A South American sea lion bull patrols the rocks, presumably hoping to catch an unwary penguin. Some of us sit on the rocks and just watch, taking pictures and admiring the rockhoppers.
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| Photographer Al Bruton, photographing Magellanic penguins on grasslands above the ocean. Image ID: 23799 Location: New Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
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| Sand beach at New Island Settlement, with zodiac ashore and shipwrreck. Image ID: 23800 Location: New Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
After a few hours, it is time to make our way to the second landing. Rather than return to the big boat, some of us choose to motor straight there by zodiac. Others opt to hike there. We land on another sand beach, with green hills above. The overcast conditions have lifted and we now are favored with blue skies, scattered clouds and some breeze. The objective is to walk to three locations about half mile apart from one another and the beach we are on now: an albatross colony, a gentoo colony and a white sand beach known for surfing penguins. The first thing I encounter on my walk are a series of Magellanic penguins burrowing in the grass. They are cute, standing at the entrances to their small dirt caves. I stick around for 45 minutes checking them out. I don’t see the main group of people so I head off in the direction I think they are, eventually coming to a broad plateau atop the island littered with strange flat, weathered rocks.
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| Interesting rock formations on plateau atop New Island. Image ID: 23802 Location: New Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
Continuing through the rocks, my walk takes me to a long line of high sea cliffs offering spectacular views, with albatrosses nesting in many places. The wind is blowing but it is quite warm. I sit for a while, take some photos and admire the view. I am quite alone here, not able to see anyone else at the moment. I have this section of cliffs to myself, but for the birds. I make some photos. Eventually I hike over a couple promontories to reach the others at a dense colony of penguins, albatross and shags, also atop sheer seacliffs. There are more animals here but the setting at my previous spot is far more impressive. I take only a few photos, but shoot some videos trying to capture the sounds of the bird life.
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| Gentoo penguin coming ashore, after foraging at sea, walking through ocean water as it wades onto a sand beach. Adult gentoo penguins grow to be 30″ and 19lb in size. They feed on fish and crustaceans. Gentoo penguins reside in colonies well inland from the ocean, often formed of a circular collection of stones gathered by the penguins. Image ID: 23831 Species: Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua Location: New Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
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| Gentoo penguin colony, set above and inland from the ocean on flat grasslands. Individual nests are formed of small rocks collected by the penguins. Image ID: 23806 Location: New Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
Soon I leave to hike over a low saddle in the island to reach the third spot of the afternoon, another beach. On the way there I pass several gentoo penguin colonies, set high on the grasslands above the water. The squacking and clicking is loud and raucous, and constant. I sit and listen for a while. After a while I continue down the grassy hills to the surfing beach and arrive there late. Clouds have stolen the sunshine just as I arrive. The others are all departing, photographers included, so I get the sense I have missed the surfing penguins. Eventually, the last of the passengers and staff head back to our originally landing spot, reminding me the last zodiac off the island is in 90 minutes. However, luck is with me and the clouds soon back off, leaving me alone on a beautiful, wide, white sand beach in late afternoon light. Gentoo penguins are coming ashore, splashing in the surf as they do so, making their way to their nearby rookery. I try to photograph them in action in the surf zone but have a hunch I did not stick any really good shots, we’ll see. I spend some time away from the camera, just watching the penguins as they do their thing, and listening to the sounds of the surf, wind and the clucking of the birds. There are large gentoo colonies on a rise above the beach 100 yards away making a constant, low buzzing sound. I am loathe to leave this idyllic spot, and wait until I only have about 15 minutes to hoof it the mile back to the landing in my goofy muck boots and heavy backpack. Time for a workout! I am sweating but happy when I reach the last zodiac and head back to the boat for a shower and a well-earned meal. After dinner I spend some photographing the birds – mostly giant petrels and a few albatross – that follow the boat as we motor to Westpoint Island. I light them with flash, producing a bright sharp bird against a darker sky, pretty neat. What a day. The trip has barely just begun yet I have seen so much already.
All of my photography from the trip is linked to the location where the images were taken. If you have Google Earth, you can see all of my photos from New Island overlaid at the exact location they were taken.
Next: Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands
Previous: Southern Giant Petrel, Macronectes giganteus, Southern Ocean
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
Southern Giant Petrel, Macronectes giganteus, Southern Ocean
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 53° 48' 18.68" S, Longitude: 63° 45' 5.47" W, Coord: -53.80519°, -63.75152°
Filed under: Falklands, Seabird, Southern Ocean on 2/18/2010
Our trip began with a two-night crossing from Ushuaia to the Falklands. During that middle day, as we sailed north-east though the Southern Ocean, we had some good bird watching, including albatrosses, prions (tiny little rocket birds I am not qualified to photograph), small petrels and the larger and more impressive giant petrels. I spent a lot of time on the back deck, admiring the birds and trying to get photos of them when they came close to the ship. (I typically shot birds from the big boat with 300mm f/2.8 lens with 1.4x converter on a full frame body, which was the perfect setup.) We were on the very stable 270′ ship M/V Polar Star, and had very calm seas for our crossing, so standing on deck and shooting was a breeze.
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| Southern giant petrel in flight. The distinctive tube nose (naricorn), characteristic of species in the Procellariidae family (tube-snouts), is easily seen. Image ID: 23681 Species: Southern giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus Location: Falkland Islands, Southern Ocean View this Image in Google Earth! |
This day, the birds I photographed the most were the giant petrels, there were just so many of them. They are quite bold, coming alongside the boat often and soaring smoothly, making it easy for even a non-bird-photographer such as myself to get some keeper shots. As for identification, it was not clear to me which species of giant petrel I was seeing. Recently, I consulted with two staff member from our trip, Dave Shaw (Fairbanks, AK) and Jim Danzenbaker, both of whom are skilled at bird identification and educated us during our trip about seabird natural history. Dave is blogging about the trip too, and has had some great posts recently. Did I mention that the staff on our trip was tops? Thanks Dave and Jim. From them I learned that most of the giant petrels I photographed crossing to the Falklands were Southern Giant Petrels (Macronectes giganteus), but after moving south to South Georgia I ended up photographing mostly Northern Giant Petrels (Macronectes halli). Does that sound bass ackwards? Their ranges do overlap considerably.
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| Southern giant petrel in flight. The distinctive tube nose (naricorn), characteristic of species in the Procellariidae family (tube-snouts), is easily seen. Image ID: 23682 Species: Southern giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus Location: Falkland Islands, Southern Ocean View this Image in Google Earth! |
All the birds in this blog post I believe are Southern Giant Petrels. I’ll post about Northern Giant Petrels when we get to South Georgia Island. In appearance the two species are quite similar to one another which, combined with their range overlap, can make separating them difficult. Dave Shaw suggested that I lookfor a green bill tip (for Southern Giant Petrels) versus red bill tip (Northern), as well as eye color (pale is more common in Northern, darker eye in Southern). About the only sure thing for identifying giant petrels is the white morph, also known as a “white nellie”; the white morph is only known to occur in the Southern Giant Petrel. The Southern Giant Petrel measures up to 39″ long, with a wingspan of up to 81″. Adult males weight 11 lb. while females weight up to 18 lb. My hunch is that the large size for females is an adaptation to reproductive demands. Giant petrels range throughout the Southern Ocean, including Antarctica. The Southern species has a range which is centered somewhat south of that of the Northern species. When in the same location, the two species exhibit temporal separation in their breeding, with Northern giant petrels breeding some six weeks earlier than Southern giant petrels. As of 2009, there are estimated to be 46,800 nesting pairs and the species is listed as “least concern”, an improvement over counts and status of a decade ago. The giant petrel, like many pelagic birds, is at risk of injury and death from longline fishing equipment. Giant petrels are members of the tube-nose order (Procellariiformes) and display the characteristic tubular snout above the bill.
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| White nellie, the white morph of the southern giant petrel. Southern giant petrel in flight. Image ID: 23678 Species: Southern giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus Location: Falkland Islands, Southern Ocean View this Image in Google Earth! |
I often photographed the giant petrels at sunset, hoping to put them against a pastel sky and light them with a little flash. The results were most pleasing for albatrosses, but I did get some nice images of giant petrels zooming over the water after dark. I liked this one best:
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| Southern giant petrel in flight at dusk, after sunset, as it soars over the open ocean in search of food. Image ID: 23680 Species: Southern giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus Location: Falkland Islands, Southern Ocean View this Image in Google Earth! |
See more photos of Southern Giant Petrels, Macronectes giganteus photos.
Next: New Island, Falkland Islands
Previous: Cerro Cinco Hermanos, The Five Brothers, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
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Black-Browed Albatross at Sunset
One of the unexpected joys of the trip for me was the albatrosses. Before this trip, the only albatrosses I had seen were Waved Albatross in Galapagos (but only sitting on nests) and some distant albatrosses as we motored at sea to Guadalupe Island. Now that I have had a chance to really see them, soaring as they do over the open ocean, I love these birds. On this night we had just left the enormous rookery of black-browed albatross at Steeple Jason Island in the Falklands, on our way to South Georgia Island. While eating dinner I noticed out the dining room window how the sky was growing pink, and I could see albatrosses occasionally flying by the window. I rudely chugged my wine and gobbled the rest of my dinner, made some weak excuse to my dining companions that I would be right back, and quickly made my way to the stern with my camera setup. I stood out there in the fading light and fresh air making a set of what I think of as “painterly images” of albatrosses and petrels.
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| Black-browed albatross in flight, at sea. The black-browed albatross is a medium-sized seabird at 31-37″ long with a 79-94″ wingspan and an average weight of 6.4-10 lb. They have a natural lifespan exceeding 70 years. They breed on remote oceanic islands and are circumpolar, ranging throughout the Southern Oceanic. Image ID: 23962 Species: Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys Location: Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
I used a Canon 1Ds Mark III camera with a 300 f/2.8 lens and 1.4x converter. The light was growing faint making it easy to match the available light of the waning dusk with the artificial light from the camera’s flash. It was about an hour after sunset, a time when the pastel colors in the sky become quite saturated. I popped a little flash on this beautiful seabird and dragged the shutter to give the shot some blur. I shot several hundred of these images and managed many keepers, each using the fading colors in the sky as a canvas ranging from pink to purple to yellow depending on which direction I pointed my camera.
Another one, about 20 minutes later, color is different since this was aimed higher and in a little different direction:
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| Black-browed albatross in flight, at sea. The black-browed albatross is a medium-sized seabird at 31-37″ long with a 79-94″ wingspan and an average weight of 6.4-10 lb. They have a natural lifespan exceeding 70 years. They breed on remote oceanic islands and are circumpolar, ranging throughout the Southern Oceanic. Image ID: 23965 Species: Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys Location: Falkland Islands, United Kingdom |
Next: Sunset Arch, Southern Ocean
Previous: Photography Gear for Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
Photography Gear for Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands
Recommended List of Photography Equipment for Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands.
Brash Ice, Antarctic Peninsula
Following is what I took on my recent trip, along with comments about how useful it was and how I will change for my next trip. Yup, I took too much, but most people do and next time I’ll have it dialed in. Weight and bulk are an issue on this sort of trip, and one wants to be nimble on shore without too much gear. By March 2010 I should have linked to several example photos taken with each piece of gear, but as of now I am just beginning my edit. Take note of my comments about 300/500 vs. 200-400 below.
- Canon 1Ds Mark III — primary body. I love this thing. You can have it when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
- Canon 1Ds Mark II — used for time lapse sequences, and as back up body. Just a few years ago this was the standard by which other 35mm digital cameras were judged, and mine is still going strong after probably 200,000 frames.
- Canon 5D Mark II — used for video, and as a landscape body. Attached 24-105 remained on camera the entire trip to minimize dust issues. This is something of a toy camera, it just does not feel right, too light and plasticy. It does NOT have the ability to withstand harsh weather that the 1D series bodies have, so be careful with it in the rain, snow and spray! The files, however, are quite nice and I am going to have a lot of fun with the video capabilities of this thing.
- Canon 500 f/4 — great for portraits, and for isolating subjects due to its narrow field of view (almost half of the view angle of a 300). I used this for portraits of penguins, and for many subjects in Falklands. Once at South Georgia and in Antarctica, this length was no longer needed. I even used it handheld with 1.4x (700mm equivalent) for photographing Wandering albatross in flight, since they rarely came near to the boat. Granted that is quite a load to handhold on a moving boat, but it was the only way I could fill the frame with those distant birds. The images are quite sharp.
- Canon 300 f/2.8 — most useful of the prime telephoto lenses, crazy sharp on its own and still very sharp as a handheld flight lens with the 1.4x converter (420mm equivalent). If I were to take just one prime telephoto, this is the one.
- Canon 70-200 f/4 — probably the most useful of all lenses for this trip. Great for much of the wildlife and many of the landscapes. You want the f/4 version due to its lightness since it makes handling two lenses easier. With today’s high ISO camera bodies there is little need for the f/2.8 version, which is rumored to be softer than the f/4 version anyway. I love this sharp little lens.
- Canon 24-70 f/2.8 — brought this along as a back-up in case the recently purchased 24-105 failed to live up to expectations. I only used this lens for a few time lapse experiments. For a trip on which weight is an issue, this lens is too heavy and not as versatile as the 24-105. Next time it will stay home.
- Canon 24-105 f/4 — kept it permanently attached to my 5D Mark II. It performed well, although like the 5DII this lens is not well-suited to wet or harsh environments. But it is so light, small and sharp that, provided it is cared for properly, it has a place in my gear bag in the future. It does have some barrel distortion at 24mm.
- Canon 16-35 f/2.8 II — this is often too wide but I did break it out a few times in ice or when we had clear or dramatic skies. Sharper and with less distortion than the 17-40 f/4, but heavier too.
- Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye — ok, if you don’t understand why you want a fisheye in Antarctica, you need to rethink being a photographer.
- Gitzo 1327 Tripod with RRS BH-55 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick. The Wimberley Sidekick was used only for the 500 and will be left at home next time. The RRS BH-55 ballhead is strong enough to handle a 300/2.8 or 200-400/4. I may bring a light monopod next time, as many times I would have preferred that. But a tripod is needed for 500 or longer, or when shooting time lapse, video or in low light.
- Think Tank Airport Acceleration v2 Backpack — this thing performed wonderfully in the airport and in the field. I had no problems with it at all. I was able to pack even more stuff in this pack than my huge Lowepro, so much so that my pack was damn-near too heavy on the flight down to Ushuaia. This pack comes with a rain cover but I did not use it in the field since the pack sheds rain and snow so well. This is what I packed on the trip down: 1DsIII/1DsII/300/500/70-200/16-35/1.4x/harddisks/laptop/couple chargers/spare clothes. (The 5DII/24-105/15 went in a small second bag.) That’s a lot in one pack.
- NRS 3.8 Liter Heavy Duty Dry Bag. I used a really big, strong dry bag from NRS. It was large enough that I could slip my entire backpack into it, along with spare sweaters, shoes, jacket, whatever. I would leave it at the landing site and return to it if I needed to exchange gear, or remove clothes if it got too warm, etc. This thing is built like a tank, reinforced at all stress points with double thick material on the boat for abrasion resistance. Be warned: this particular bag is big. I needed a big bag to put my big backpack in, and I am big enough to heft it around. You may want to go with a smaller dry bag, especially if your camera backpack is small.
- Laptop computer, three Seagate Freeagent Go 500gb portable drives and one Hyperspace Colorspace 320gb photo storage device. My computer (a very small Sony Vaio) is used for writing, playing movies and downloading images. I do not do any serious editing while traveling. The Seagate Freeagent Go drives are great, so tiny and light and they do not require their own power source (using USB power from the computer). The “Colorspace device” is much faster at downloading images than a computer, but is less flexible when it comes to doing a quick review in the evening. The Hyperspace Colorspace, while not a full-fledged computer, is sophisticated enough that it can be configured to read/write to my 500gb external hard disks which is helpful if the computer were to die during the trip. Probably the ideal solution, for someone who did not want to bring a computer, would be to bring two Colorspace devices (two backups is safer than one).
I always had the 5DII / 24-105 with me, as well as the 70-200 mounted on a body. The only question was, do I have along a longer lens (typically in Falklands) or a wider lens (Antarctica). South Georgia had so much variety that I ended up carrying more gear there than anywhere else.
NOTE: One major change I will make next time will be to leave the 300 and 500 lenses at home in favor of the Nikon 200-400 f/4, probably on a D300 crop body (equivalent 300-600mm). I owned a 200-400 and D3 briefly and just loved that combo, but could not justify the expense at that time and sold them after one shoot. The 200-400 is so absolutely perfect for this trip that I simply must have one in spite of the fact it is not quite as sharp as a prime, and loses a bit more quality with crop bodies which I avoid whenever possible. But on this trip the versatility of the 200-400 is enough to make up for it, and it almost doesn’t matter whether it is paired with a crop body (D300) or fullframe (D3/D3x/D700). I would guess that bird photographers will want the D300 for tighter bird stuff. Carryon luggage can be an issue on this trip (special thanks to the arbitrary and capricious ticket agents at Aerolineas Argentina when flying between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia!) and exchanging two big primes for one big zoom will ease my carryon situation a lot.
Note also that I do not carry high-speed bodies. I just don’t feel a need for them. I have used most of Canon’s bodies and have never really been satisfied with the image quality of the 1.6x crop bodies after becoming accustomed to the full frame quality. And the only shooting situations I have found that absolutely required high frame rates are photographing surf and action sports. Perhaps the 1D Mark IV will tempt me if the AF is good enough, but for now the 1DsIII and 1DsII were more than enough to handle the AF and frame-rate situations I encountered on this trip.
Conclusion, the ideal setup for me would have been: 1DsIII and 5DII with 15 / 16-35 / 24-105 / 70-200, and D3/D3x with 200-400.
Next: Black-Browed Albatross at Sunset
Previous: Equipment List for Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands
Trip Index: Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
All “Southern Ocean” entries
Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
Trip report and photos from Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, the South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands on the icebreaker M/V Polar Star with Cheesemans Ecology Safaris.
I have just returned from a one-month trip during which I joined the most recent Cheesemans Ecology Safaris voyage to the Falklands, South Georgia Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. (Note: the Cheesemans are repeating this trip in December 2011, many cabins are already reserved.) This was one of the few trips I have experienced that can honestly be called an “expedition”. There are a variety of tour operators that conduct trips to Antarctica, somewhat fewer that include Falklands and South Georgia as well. The Cheesemans claim to fame with this trip is that they get their guests ashore as much as possible. Did they? Absolutely! In spite of serious challenges presented by poor weather, expedition leader Ted Cheeseman and his crack staff really delivered, doing their utmost to work safely with the captain and crew of the M/V Polar Star to get us ashore. We made 29 landings with a total of about 130 hours ashore. That is in addition to the many hours we had both in zodiacs and on the deck of the M/V Polar Star admiring the scenery and wildlife of the wonderful Southern Ocean waters.
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| Chinstrap penguins at Bailey Head, Deception Island. Chinstrap penguins enter and exit the surf on the black sand beach at Bailey Head on Deception Island. Bailey Head is home to one of the largest colonies of chinstrap penguins in the world. Image ID: 25456 Species: Chinstrap Penguin, Pygoscelis antarcticus Location: Deception Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica |
I am not too keen about traveling in large groups. Usually I make my own plans, arrange my own accomodations, and do my own thing once I arrive somewhere. However, travel to Antarctica and South Georgia Island is sufficiently difficult that getting there on one’s own is just not feasible. The economies of scale and logistic realities make it necessary to join some kind of group, either a lay-group of travelers or a scientific party. A few years ago Bob returned from the 2007/2008 Cheesemans Antarctica trip and stated very simply that it was the greatest trip he and Rosie had ever experienced. Coming from a couple who spends 6-8 months a year traveling and who has been literally all over the world, his recommendation required that I sit up and take notice. So I decided to give Antarctica a try. I researched operators and scrutinized comments on the web by other travelers who had taken this sort of trip before. What influenced me most was a series of short conversations I had with Ted Cheeseman. Ted repeatedly stressed that the Cheesemans’ itinerary placed great emphasis on getting people ashore. I really did not want to find myself trapped on a boat after investing so much time, effort and money to get to Antarctica. I wanted to be ashore, among outdoors people who enjoyed long days with their boots on the ground, experiencing the wonders of these places first hand. Ted’s attitude about maximum time ashore made my decision simple, and I joined the recent 2009/2010 Cheesemans 26-day trip to Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic peninsula.
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| Hiker looks down on Stromness Harbour from the pass high above. Image ID: 24582 Location: Stromness Harbour, South Georgia Island |
The trip was wonderful and I hope to do it again, with Cheesemans, in the future. I’ll have lots more to say about the trip in coming weeks. For now, suffice it to say that the Cheesemans staff was superb both in the field and in the many presentations they made during the course of the trip. From Doug’s morning wake-up call to Ted’s after-dinner daily recap, the staff’s attitude was always positive and energetic, not easy to maintain on such a long and fatiguing trip. The ship M/V Polar Star was a good choice by the Cheesemans for this trip, being comfortable, accomodating and seaworthy. The group? It was a good one. This sort of travel is self-selective in the sense that the very people who choose to visit Antarctica and South Georgia are the most enjoyable sort to travel with anyway, so it all works out well. Some had been on many past Cheesemans trips elsewhere in the world, others were first-timers like me. It was a pleasant assemblage of relatively experienced travelers who were comfortable in the sometimes-uncomfortable environs we moved through and were laid-back and enjoyable to be with during our many hours on board together. Weather? OK, the weather could have been better. But this is the Southern Ocean, one of the most turbulent climates on the planet, so challenging weather is to be expected. We just smiled and rolled with whatever Mother Nature handed us, having a great time in spite of the wind, snow and rain. Photography? It was great, and next time it will be better now that I know what to expect and how to best gear up for it. I shot over 30,000 photos that should provide plenty of blog fodder in the coming months. Thanks Cheesemans!
Posts related to this trip, most recent to oldest:
Photography Expedition to Antarctica, South Georgia Island and the Falkland Islands
The Drake Passage
Hannah Point, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands
Humpback whales in the Gerlache Strait
Neko Harbor, Antarctica
Cloudy Morning in Paradise Bay, Antarctica
Peterman Island, Antarctica
Lemaire Channel, Antarctica
Port Lockroy, Antarctica
Cuverville Island, Antarctica
Cierva Cove, Antarctica
Bailey Head, Deception Island, Antarctica
Brown Bluff, Antarctica
Devil Island, Antarctica
Zodiac Cruising in Antarctica
Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica
Nature’s Best Photography Cover Shot
Pack Ice at the Edge of the Weddell Sea
Shingle Cove, Coronation Island, South Orkneys
Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands
Scotia Sea, en route to South Orkney Islands
Cooper Bay, South Georgia Island
Drygalski Fjord, South Georgia Island
Godthul, South Georgia Island
Prion Island, South Georgia Island
Salisbury Plain, South Georgia Island
Grytviken, South Georgia Island
Hercules Bay, South Georgia Island
Stromness Harbour and Shackleton Hike, South Georgia Island
Fortuna Bay, South Georgia Island
Right Whale Bay, South Georgia Island
Approaching South Georgia Island
En Route to South Georgia Island
Steeple Jason, West Falklands
Carcass Island, Falkland Islands
Westpoint Island, Falkland Islands
New Island, Falkland Islands
Southern Giant Petrel, Macronectes giganteus, Southern Ocean
Cerro Cinco Hermanos, The Five Brothers, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina
Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Sunset Arch, Southern Ocean
Black-Browed Albatross at Sunset
Photography Gear for Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands
Equipment List for Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands
Penguin Encounter, Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Cheesemans Antarctica, Falklands and South Georgia
Sunset Cruise Through Antarctic Ice
All “Southern Ocean” entries
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Updated: May 18, 2013
