Peaceful Penguin
This beautiful king penguin is having a little nap, despite the frenzy of people milling about the Grytviken area.
As I mentioned in a previous post, there were not many penguins at this location. They were not nesting, so it is likely the group are all younger or non-mating for some other reason. Many were moulting, but this individual didn't show evidence of that.
For a while after whalers stopped using these penguins as a fuel source, their numbers increased quite a bit. They are in decline again, possibly for a few reasons. One may be climate change affecting food availability. Another is the commercial krill harvest. Krill makes up a large portion of the food for many fish species, penguins, and whales, but krill are being scooped up by the billions of tons for creating supplemental oils (which really is not needed by anyone) and food meal for use on fish farms. I'm guessing there is money involved in there somewhere.
Peaceful Penguin
This beautiful king penguin is having a little nap, despite the frenzy of people milling about the Grytviken area.
As I mentioned in a previous post, there were not many penguins at this location. They were not nesting, so it is likely the group are all younger or non-mating for some other reason. Many were moulting, but this individual didn't show evidence of that.
For a while after whalers stopped using these penguins as a fuel source, their numbers increased quite a bit. They are in decline again, possibly for a few reasons. One may be climate change affecting food availability. Another is the commercial krill harvest. Krill makes up a large portion of the food for many fish species, penguins, and whales, but krill are being scooped up by the billions of tons for creating supplemental oils (which really is not needed by anyone) and food meal for use on fish farms. I'm guessing there is money involved in there somewhere.