Let’s be honest, you probably don’t care about the project I’m working on. You don’t care about the hikes I go on. You don’t care about the bizarre people I meet here. You care about one thing, penguin photos. So here you go.
This is an emperor penguin, which is rarely seen in and around McMurdo. He scooted into LDB fairly quickly, but then stood behind our site for hours, plucking at his feathers. People have suggested that he’s out here to molt. Penguins molt now because it’s the warmest time of the year. While most birds molt slowly, losing a handful of feathers at a time, penguins go through what’s called a “catastrophic molt.” They will grow in new feathers all at once, pushing out all their existing ones. Hopefully this guys stays here through his entire molting process!
Here’s a video of our intrepid explorer scooting along.