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| The Chinstrap Penguins are common throughout the
South Shetland Islands and disappear further south. Chinstrap Penguins
are easy to recognise - they have a very distinctive thin black band
of feathers under their beaks - i.e. a chinstrap! They stand about
50cm tall. |
| >> Listen
to a rookery of Chinstrap Penguins on Half Moon Island! (240kb) |
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I am so kewl!
Jorge Island, Aitcho Island
The distinctive band of black feathers beneath the chin is evident
in this photograph of a Chinstrap Penguin
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Go stand in the corner!
Aitcho Island
During molting at the end of summer, the penguins loose their outer
feathers and new feathers come in underneath. After a while, penguins
begin to look very mange with the sleek, newer feathers edging their
way through the loose, fluffy older feathers.
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I'm just minding my own business...
Aitcho Island
Although the Chinstrap Penguins share their nesting ground in the
South Shetland Islands with numerous Gentoo Penguins, they still
tended to cluster together.
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That loving parental bond
Livingston Island
During the summer, the penguin chicks are fed a diet of krill.
Krill comprise some 80 different species of crustaceans and resemble
little shrimp, less than 6cm in length. Krill are absolutely critical
to the food chain in Antarctica and man's attempts to mine this
food source for human consumption should be prohibited! Fortunately,
most attempts so far have not yielded a highly nutritious food source
for humans, so let's hope we don't disrupt the Antarctic distribution
of krill!
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>> more photographs
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