Is That Your Last Penguin Species?

Erect-crested Penguins, Ringdove Bay, Antipodes Island

Erect-crested Penguins

Erect-crested Penguins with fluffy chicks

No one on our Zodiac answered yes to expedition leader Rodney Russ’ question but I’m sure over the years he’s had some very enthusiastic yeses with champagne toasts to follow. I’ve seen 13 of the 17 species of penguins worldwide in the last year, all pictured in the pages of this blog. I’m looking forward to future trips to South Africa, Chile, and the Galapagos to see their respective penguin species, but I sure wish the Rockhopper Penguin hadn’t been split. The Northern Rockhopper Penguin only breeds in the most remote locations. Maybe I’ll be able to answer yes to the penguin question someday but that trip is well down the list right now. Other than the Northern Rockhopper Penguin, the Erect-crested Penguin is probably the most difficult penguin to see because it only breeds on the remote Antipodes Islands and Bounty Islands, which are visited by cruise ships only a couple of times per year.

Southern Rockhopper Penguin

Oddly enough, we did see another boat when we pulled up to the welcome shelter of Antipodes Island: Tiama, a 50’ sailing vessel specifically designed for long trips in this region. The keel is retractable, allowing the yacht to get close to the islands. On this trip, Tiama was dropping off two scientists who came to study the albatross colonies on the island (mainly the majestic Antipodean Wandering Albatross, but Black-browed Albatross, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, and White-capped Shy Albatross also breed there). The scientists will be working on the island for two months. Talk about adventure research! If anything were to happen to these two people on this high-cliff-faced, high-tussocked, deep-peat-bogged island, a rescue ship would take at least four days to reach them.

Antipodes Island, New Zealand. Map copyright 2006, Heritage Expeditions, Straight Through From London by Rowley Taylor.

In June 1999, ornithologist and yachtsman Gerry Clark and crewman Roger Sale lost their lives on the 32’ sailboat Totorore (Maori name of the Antarctic Prion) after it wrecked and sunk, likely near South Bay, Antipodes Island. They were anchored at Alert Bay for a week while two scientists stayed on the island retrieving satellite transmitters from Antipodean Albatrosses. The wreck likely came during a shift to South Bay, either en route or by dragging an anchor, or perhaps if the LPG containers on board exploded. No one knows. Bits of certain wreckage from the boat were found in South Bay by one of the researchers when he was unable to contact Totorore by radio. The description of the ensuing searches for the wreckage is gripping, as told by Rowley Taylor in his book Straight Through From London, The Antipodes and Bounty Islands, New Zealand, published by Heritage Expeditions, 2006. Each passenger on our trip received a copy of the book as a wrapped Christmas present, complementing the wonderful Christmas decorations and epic Christmas dinner.

The tiny black and white dots (penguins) provide a sense of scale for this lower portion of the high cliffs surrounding Ringdove Bay. It's impressive that the penguins can get up and down these cliff faces. 

One of many scientific papers documenting the long-term research by Kath Walker and Graeme Elliott on the separate foraging distributions of the two species of albatross (Antipodean and Gibson’s - which breeds on the Auckland Islands) and interactions with longline fisheries (which kill albatrosses as they dive for the bait, get hooked, and drown) is full of interesting maps and acknowledges the significant role expeditioners play in subantarctic research, from the crew who lost their lives on the Totorore to the expedition leader of our trip.

Leaving the Antipodes Islands, bound for the Bounties.

The Antipodes Islands (49.9°S, 178.8°E) are named for their location on the nearly opposite side of Earth from London, England (51.5°N, 0.1°W). Greenwich Mean Time is defined by the Greenwich Meridian, 0° longitude. The Antipodes are very close to the International Date Line, defined mainly by the 180° Meridian, but adjusted for political boundaries. The crew and passengers aboard the Tiama, anchored at the Antipodes, and the seabird researchers on the Antipodes, were the first people to see the sun rise on a new millennium (New Year’s Eve 1999). They were also the first people to welcome 2013, followed shortly by our ship’s passengers and crew as we arrived at the Antipodes on New Year’s Day.

The Bounty Islands, New Zealand. Map copyright 2006, Heritage Expeditions, Straight Through From London by Rowley Taylor.

Two people on our trip were able to answer yes to a question I don’t quite know how to frame. Essentially the question is: Did you get to count your last possible New Zealand/Australian subantarctic island on your location list? Maybe the answer is yes with an asterisk because landings aren’t allowed at the Antipodes Islands or the Bounty Islands except for researchers. Bob and Don are tied for 3^rd Most Traveled People. Bob was on my Zodiac and we both touched Antipodes Island. Tick! (Not the blood-sucking kind). In addition to rabid birders (not the foaming at the mouth kind), this trip attracts big-time world travelers who are on a mission to go literally everywhere on Earth. If any of us named a place (country, state, isolated island group, etc) to these guys, they had been there. Even to the South Pole. The catch is, unlike ticking birds, you have to actually touch the ground to count it!

The asterisk is the Bounty Islands. We couldn’t do a Zodiac cruise there because the seas were too rough. They couldn’t touch one of the islands. Doesn’t count. Kind of like the feeling I had when I was penned up in my cabin after hurting my knee while boarding a Zodiac for a shore cruise in the Chatham Islands. I hadn’t seen the endemic Chatham Island Shag yet, but here I am lying in bed, listening to the announcement that this is our last chance and they’re flying around the ship right now. I can’t put weight on my knee – how am I supposed to get outside on a rocking ship to see it?! So I stare intently out my cabin window. Please fly by, please fly by! A little later, zoom – there goes a black and white shag – it’s not the (also endemic) Pitt Island Shag I’ve already seen so that’s it! The Chatham Island Shag. Whew. Tick. 

The Bounty Island Shag, one of the world's rarest cormorant species.  I don't have a picture of the similar fly-by I witnessed from my cabin window of a Chatham Island Shag, but add some orange to the forehead and you've got it. 

The moon over the Bounties as we leave these rocks teaming with seabirds. 

Nice day at sea between the Bounty Islands and the Chatham Islands (video link)