I'd always wanted to see penguins in the wild and last year, for the first time in my life, I did. They were Humboldt Penguins on the rocky Islas Ballestas off the coast of Peru and it was such a thrill to see them. To be honest, they are not the most attractive of penguins, certainly not in the same class as Emperor Penguins, perhaps because they spend their lives covered in guano, which is, as you know, basically sh*t.
Humboldt Penguins breed on rocky islets off the coast of Peru and Chile, where in order to lay their eggs, they burrow into guano left by other birds. Because of man's over exploitation of the local fishing grounds and the guano for use as fertilizer, they are an endangered species, and there are now only 10,000 pairs left in the world.
Humboldt Penguins breed on rocky islets off the coast of Peru and Chile, where in order to lay their eggs, they burrow into guano left by other birds. Because of man's over exploitation of the local fishing grounds and the guano for use as fertilizer, they are an endangered species, and there are now only 10,000 pairs left in the world.
j'ai vu le même genre d'animation mais avec des poissons ! je prefère les pingouins !
ReplyDeletetruly fascinating. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so much better than counting sheep! I´m so relaxed now from watching them that I jump in bed. Too cute!
ReplyDeletewow, it is sort of mezmerizing - like watching a fire - hmmm....maybe i need to get a life
ReplyDeleteThat's a real "blÖg friend" !!! Yeahhhhh !
ReplyDeleteVery cute penguins :-)
ReplyDeleteand nice changes to your blog. I have one comment though - black background is great with photos I think, but is not so reader friendly if there is a lot of text you want your visitors to read ...
Dorte, I totally agree with you. That's why I am torn between my old template and the new one.
ReplyDeleteWow I didn't know penguins did that.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day you could see the penguins in Australia!
Love the shot--they don't look real at all, do they.
ReplyDelete(If you care, agree with comments about reverse type, it's tiring on the eye. Plus, it takes longer to load.)
Yes, I do care. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteThese scare the hell out of me! I have a terrible bird phobia.
ReplyDeleteNice blog, Ian!
I'm sorry to hear they are endangered. Wondeful black and white photograph. They are cute little guys : )
ReplyDeleteVery fascinating. I am going to be following your travels.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say you live in a country, what exactly do you mean. Is it for a few weeks or months? Do you stay in a hotel or rent an apartment?
Penguins are so wonderful, too bad the closest I've gotten to them is a cage in the zoo.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is awesome!! Penguins are hands down my favorite animal! What a sight to see them in their natural habitat! Great photo!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sweet comment on The Roxy Blues! That's so great you used to play!! You should do a post on that!!
...Lisa
Penguins have always fascinated me!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I really enjoy your writing, as well as your gorgeous photos!
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