Mr Popper's Penguins in the Flesh!
Los Pingüinos de Isla Magdalena!!!
Back in 2003 I actually visited the smaller of the two penguin colonies located on the Straits of Magellan, namely the Otway Colony, which has approximately 10,000 avarian colonists spread out along a small beach. But this time, I chose to splurge on the boat trip out to the Isla Magdalena as it had something like 7x mas pingüinos (the guide said it was close to 70,000 at the time of my visit) and visitors are able to get up CLOSE to the critters, within practically spitting distance! There is only one trip to the island per day which departs at 5PM daily and is run by Comapa for the princely sum of 25,000 Pesos ($50). The boat can hold up to 300 passengers but on this particular day there were only about 50 tourists aboard. It takes 2 hours to sail to the island and then everyone is allowed to walk onthe island along a roped-off path for an hour before returning to the boat for the return 2-hour journey. But enough facts about the tour, what I really want to talk about are these fascinating birds!
Magellanic penguins come from South America and this particular colony travel from Brazil down to this same island every year, arriving in September when they are reunited with their mates (sigh, penguins, like swans, mate for life). The breeding and laying of eggs takes place in Sept-Oct, followed by the nesting period which apparently is done by the male in a nice example of gender role swapping. The babies hatch in early December and then live on the island until they are old enough to fend for themselves in the great Big Blue, which means they leave the island in around March-April. Thankfully, the Chilean government had the good environmental sense to make this island a nature reserve and outlaw anyone from fishing near the island, which has allowed the penguin population to flourish. Right on, Chile!!
I found myself thoroughly enchanted by these birds once on the island. Besides the fact that they are first and foremostly so gosh darn cute that I seriously contemplated whether or not I could surreptitiously stuff one inside my jacket and take it home with me, I was surprised by how incredibly communicative they are with one another. They make numerous calls and gesture with their wings while pontificating loudly (At least that's how it sounds to me!). Furthermore, they show affection by scratching each other under the chin, rubbing up against one another and touching noses much like Emirati men do to show affection towards close male friends and family members. I also witnessed penguins performing various acts such as: digging, pooping, yawning and even sneezing! The juvenile penguins were particularly cute & incredibly curious as they still have a bit of grey fur covering parts of their body and they did not scamper away when I slowly approached them. In fact, when I softly spoke to these younguns, they stared at me transfixed and even cocked their heads slightly to show that they were listening. Fascinating!
I was loathe to leave the island and my new found amigos, but just as time ran out, it started to rain, making it
And for the record? Penguins are not diabolical plotters as depicted in "Madagascar". Hollywood got it wrong I say!!
Comments
Post a Comment