View allAll Photos Tagged benthic
The brown dipper can either feed by diving into streams to eat larger benthic organisms, or wade in shallower parts of streams and pick smaller organisms of the bottom. The adults will dive for food from December through April, which is when there are more large benthic organisms. Since this period is also the breeding season of the brown dipper, more food is required, so diving for large food is necessary. However, the adults will forage by wading and picking at the stream bottom for the rest of the year. Brown dipper chicks and fledglings will also forage by diving. One small population wintering at a hot spring in Suntar-Khayata Mountains of Siberia feeds underwater when air temperatures drop below -55 C
The great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds. The genus name is Latinised Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός (phalakros, "bald") and κόραξ (korax, "raven"), and carbo is Latin for "charcoal".
It breeds in much of the Old World, Australia, and the Atlantic coast of North America.
The great cormorant is a large black bird, but there is a wide variation in size in the species' wide range. Weight is reported to vary from 1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz)[6] to 5.3 kg (11 lb 11 oz). Males are typically larger and heavier than females, with the nominate race (P. c. carbo) averaging about 10% larger in linear measurements than the smallest race in Europe (P. c. sinensis).[8] The lightest average weights cited are in Germany (P. c. sinensis), where 36 males averaged 2.28 kg (5 lb 1⁄2 oz) and 17 females averaged 1.94 kg (4 lb 4+1⁄2 oz).[9] The highest come from Prince Edward Island in Canada (P. c. carbo), where 11 males averaged 3.68 kg (8 lb 2 oz) and 11 females averaged 2.94 kg (6 lb 7+1⁄2 oz). Length can vary from 70 to 102 cm (27+1⁄2 to 40 in) and wingspan from 121 to 160 cm (47+1⁄2 to 63 in). They are tied as the second largest extant species of cormorant after the flightless cormorant, with the Japanese cormorant averaging at a similar size. In bulk if not in linear dimensions, the Blue-eyed shag species complex of the Southern Oceans are scarcely smaller at average. It has a longish tail and yellow throat-patch. Adults have white patches on the thighs and on the throat in the breeding season. In European waters it can be distinguished from the common shag by its larger size, heavier build, thicker bill, lack of a crest and plumage without any green tinge. In eastern North America, it is similarly larger and bulkier than double-crested cormorant, and the latter species has more yellow on the throat and bill and lack the white thigh patches frequently seen on great cormorants. Great cormorants are mostly silent, but they make various guttural noises at their breeding colonies.
The great cormorant feeds on fish caught through diving. This bird feeds primarily on wrasses, but it also takes sand smelt, flathead and common soles. The average weight of fish taken by great cormorants increased with decreasing air and water temperature, being 30 g during summer, 109 g during a warm winter and 157 g during the cold winter (all values for non-breeding birds). Cormorants consume all fish of appropriate size that they are able to catch in summer and noticeably select for larger, mostly torpedo-shaped fish in winter. Thus, the winter elevation of foraging efficiency described for cormorants by various researchers is due to capturing larger fish not due to capturing more fish. In some freshwater systems, the losses of fish due to overwintering great cormorants were estimated to be up to 80 kg per ha each year (e.g. Vltava River, Czech Republic).
This cormorant forages by diving and capturing its prey in its beak. The duration of its dives is around 28 seconds, with the bird diving to depths of about 5.8 metres (19 ft 0 in). About 60% of dives are to the benthic zone and about 10% are to the pelagic zone, with the rest of the dives being to zones in between the two. Studies suggest that their hearing has evolved for underwater usage, possibly aiding their detection of fish. These adaptations also have a cost on their hearing ability in air which is of lowered sensitivity.
Many fishermen see in the great cormorant a competitor for fish. Because of this, it was hunted nearly to extinction in the past. Due to conservation efforts, its numbers increased. At the moment, there are about 1.2 million birds in Europe (based on winter counts; late summer counts would show higher numbers). Increasing populations have once again brought the cormorant into conflict with fisheries. For example, in Britain, where inland breeding was once uncommon, there are now increasing numbers of birds breeding inland, and many inland fish farms and fisheries now claim to be suffering high losses due to these birds. In the UK each year, some licenses are issued to cull specified numbers of cormorants in order to help reduce predation; it is, however, still illegal to kill a bird without such a license.
For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_cormorant
'Rare old Green Eyes'. Portrait of our green eyed pursuit-diving sea bird, the Shag. Pictured on the Farne Islands, Northumberland.
Many thanks for visiting my Flickr pages ...Your visits, interest, comments and kindness to 'fave' my photos is very much appreciated, Steve.
Notes on the European Shag ...
This is a medium-large black bird, 68 to 78 cm (27 to 31 in) long and with a 95-to-110-centimetre (37 to 43 in) wingspan. It has a longish tail and yellow throat-patch. Adults have a small crest in the breeding season. It is distinguished from the great cormorant by its smaller size, lighter build, thinner bill, and, in breeding adults, by the crest and metallic green-tinged sheen on the feathers. Among those differences are that a shag has a lighter, narrower beak; and the juvenile shag has darker underparts. The European shag's tail has 12 feathers, the great cormorant's 14 feathers. The green sheen on the feathers results in the alternative name green cormorant sometimes being given to the European shag.
Biology ...
It feeds in the sea, and, unlike the great cormorant, is rare inland. It will winter along any coast that is well-supplied with fish. The European shag is one of the deepest divers among the cormorant family. Using depth gauges, European shags have been shown to dive to at least 45 m (148 ft). European shags are preponderantly benthic feeders, i.e. they find their prey on the sea bottom. They will eat a wide range of fish but their commonest prey is the sand eel. Shags will travel many kilometres from their roosting sites in order to feed.
In UK coastal waters, dive times are typically around 20 to 45 seconds, with a recovery time of around 15 seconds between dives; this is consistent with aerobic diving, i.e. the bird depends on the oxygen in its lungs and dissolved in its bloodstream during the dive. When they dive, they jump out of the water first to give extra impetus to the dive.
It breeds on coasts, nesting on rocky ledges or in crevices or small caves. The nests are untidy heaps of rotting seaweed or twigs cemented together by the bird's own guano. The nesting season is long, beginning in late February but some nests not started until May or even later. Three eggs are laid. Their chicks hatch without down and so they rely totally on their parents for warmth, often for a period of two months before they can fly. Fledging may occur at any time from early June to late August, exceptionally to mid-October.
Diet ...The shag is a pursuit-diving seabird that feeds predominantly in benthic habitats. Due to the relative ease with which diet samples can be collected from this species (regurgitated food or pellets) and the perceived conflict between the Phalacrocoracidae and fisheries, shag diet competition has been the subject of substantial scientific interest. Evidence collected at one colony, the Isle of May, Scotland, between 1985 and 2014, suggests that shag chick diet composition in this population has diversified in response to ocean warming. Shags also feed on fewer sandeel on windy days, presumably due to the strong effect of wind on flight in this species. The year-round diet of full-grown shags at this colony has also changed over the past three decades, from sandeel specialists to an increasingly diverse prey base. Wiki Notes.
Photographed in the Falkland Islands
Please click twice on the image to view at the largest size
As with the photo I posted yesterday of the Black-browed Albatross, I took this photo in a nesting area on West Point Island that was inhabited by nesting Black-browed Albatross and Rock Hopper Penguins. It was my first opportunity to see this species and they didn't disappoint. What a great looking penguin with its red eyes and crew cut.
The Trip - (01/01/23 to 01/21/23)
On the first day of 2023, my wife and I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in preparation for a cruise to Antarctica, via The Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. We’d never visited Antarctica and, in fact, felt a little unprepared for this trip since we’d only been on one cruise previously...and that was many years ago when we went on a cruise to Alaska…and that one trip to Alaska was enough to let my wife know that she was very prone to seasickness. Consequently, she was very concerned about this much longer trip because of the potential for rough weather.
We spent several days in Buenos Aires before we finally boarded the ship on 01/06/23 and headed off towards the Falkland Islands. The ship we were on was very nice…clean and comfortable room, friendly staff, incredibly interesting folks for lectures: A former astronaut, a former college professor with a doctorate in Ornithology and a geologist.
The photos:
Until we made landfall in the Falklands, the only wildlife we would see were the many pelagic birds that occasionally accompanied our ship. The larger birds, albatross, giant petrels, etc. managed to effortlessly soar over the swells, seemingly without ever flapping their wings. The smaller birds like the prions, also appeared to not waste much energy flapping their wings and were fun to watch as they maneuvered back and forth alongside our ship. Most of the photos I took from the ship were taken from our balcony on deck six. The balcony was a great location for landscape shots when we were near shore…but the height above the water made it difficult to photograph birds that were close to the water’s surface. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. :-)
I plan to post photos taken at the several various locations we visited, as well as any I took while we were underway. I apologize in advance for the small size of the underway photos because they were taken either from the ship’s bow, stern or our balcony on deck 6, and I was a long way from the water. For the most part, and for no particular reason, I’ll be posting the photos chronologically.
======================
From Wikipedia: The southern rockhopper penguin group (Eudyptes chrysocome), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as around the southern coasts of South America.
Appearance:
Rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) are among the smaller species of penguin. After reaching full growth, they are about 20 inches or 50 centimetres in height.[1] Males and females cannot be distinguished visually, so a DNA test is conducted by taking a feather from the bird to determine its gender. Like many penguins, rockhopper penguins have a white belly and the rest of their body is black. Some characteristics that differentiate them from the other penguins are their red eyes, orange beak, pink webbed feet, and the yellow and black spiky feathers they have on their head. Although their yellow and black spiky feathers differentiate them from other penguins, rockhopper penguin chicks do not have them; these feathers develop with age. Their orange beak is initially black, but as the penguins get older, their beaks turn orange. Due to the harsh rocky environment, they cannot slide on their bellies like most penguins, so they hop to get from one place to another, hence their name.
The yellow and black ‘hair’ they have on the top of their head is similar to that of the Macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus).
Diet:
The rockhopper penguin's diet consists of krill and small crustaceans, which may include shrimp, crabs, lobsters or crayfish. They also eat squid and myctophid fish. Rockhopper penguins consume more krill than they do fish; their diet changes during migration and as the seasons change. Rockhopper penguins can be at sea for several days while hunting. They can dive up to 330 feet (100 m) for many minutes at a time while searching for prey.
Dive limitations:
Because foraging conditions and outcomes are so variable, several factors can limit foraging practices. The timing of breeding, incubation and brooding periods greatly affect foraging time, as females are unable to leave broods for long periods of time. Females during the brooding period will follow a much more fixed foraging schedule, leaving and returning to the colony at roughly the same time each day. When not in breeding season, females have much more variability in the length of foraging trips. If females have low energy levels because they are fasting while provisioning chicks, they may make several short foraging trips instead of one longer one.
While benthic dives are efficient and favorable for rockhoppers, they present physiological limitations such as limits in lung capacity, which affects duration of dives. The longest aerobic dive rockhoppers can perform is about 110 seconds long, but dives can last upwards of 180–190 seconds.
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The European shag or common shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) is a species of cormorant. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mainly wintering in its breeding range except for the northernmost birds. In Britain this seabird is usually referred to as simply the shag.
It feeds in the sea, and, unlike the great cormorant, is rare inland. It will winter along any coast that is well-supplied with fish. The European shag is one of the deepest divers among the cormorant family. Using depth gauges, European shags have been shown to dive to at least 45m. European shags are preponderantly benthic feeders, i.e. they find their prey on the sea bottom. They will eat a wide range of fish but their commonest prey is the sand eel. Shags will travel many kilometres from their roosting sites in order to feed.
In UK coastal waters, dive times are typically around 20 to 45 seconds, with a recovery time of around 15 seconds between dives; this is consistent with aerobic diving, i.e. the bird depends on the oxygen in its lungs and dissolved in its bloodstream during the dive. When they dive, they jump out of the water first to give extra impetus to the dive.
It breeds on coasts, nesting on rocky ledges or in crevices or small caves. The nests are untidy heaps of rotting seaweed or twigs cemented together by the bird's own guano. The nesting season is long, beginning in late February but some nests are not started until May or even later. Three eggs are laid. Their chicks hatch without down and so they rely totally on their parents for warmth, often for a period of two months before they can fly. Fledging may occur at any time from early June to late August, exceptionally to mid-October.
King Eider --------------
The King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) is a large sea duck, which breeds along northern hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay 4-7 eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down.
King Eider winters in arctic and subarctic marine areas, most notably in the Bering Sea, the west coast of Greenland, eastern Canada and northern Norway. It also occurs annually off the northeastern USA, Scotland and Kamchatka. Breeding areas include the Arctic coastal tundra of the north coast of Alaska. This species dives for benthic invertebrates like crustaceans, polychaete worms, and molluscs, with mussels being a favoured food. Wintering birds can form large flocks on suitable coastal waters, with some flocks exceeding 100,000 birds.
This species is smaller than Common Eider. The male is unmistakable with its black body, white breast and multicoloured head. The drake's call is a deep cooing.
The female (occasionally colloquially referred to as a "Queen Eider"[2]) is a brown bird, but can still be readily distinguished from all ducks except other eider species on size and structure. The head is shorter than in Common Eider, and the feathering extension onto the bill is rounded, not triangular in shape.
Immature drakes are typically all dark with a white breast and a yellow bill patch. Eclipse adult drakes are similar but lack the white breast.
The King Eider is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.The King Eider, or Qengallek, in Yup'ik is a regular source of fresh meat in the spring. They begin their migration past the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in late April and are hunted in great numbers. In May, several hundred thousand King Eiders pass Point Barrow in northern Alaska on their way to Alaskan and Canadian breeding grounds.
Die Prachteiderente (Somateria spectabilis) ist eine Vogelart aus der Gattung der Eiderenten (Somateria) und der Familie der Entenvögel (Anatidae). Die Art, deren Männchen ein unverwechselbares Prachtkleid haben, brütet zirkumpolar an den Küsten und Inseln des nördlichen Eismeers. Wie bei vielen arktischen Vogelarten ist der Bestand der Prachteiderente starken Schwankungen unterworfen. Sie gilt jedoch insgesamt als nicht gefährdet. Während des Winterhalbjahres sind sie an den Küsten Skandinaviens und Islands zu beobachten. An den Küsten der Nord- und Ostsee sind sie nur vereinzelt als Irrgast zu sehen.
Die Prachteiderente ist etwas kleiner als die zur selben Gattung gehörende Eiderente (Somateria mollissima). Das Männchen, der Erpel, ist unverwechselbar mit seinem schwarz gefärbten Körper, der weißen bis lachsfarbenen Brust und dem hellblauen Oberkopf und Nacken. die Nackenfedern sind leicht verlängert, so dass sich eine Federhaube andeutet. Auffälligstes Merkmal des Erpels ist der zu einem Stirnhöcker erweiterte rote Oberschnabel. Er ist durch einen schwarzen Federkranz vom hellblauen Oberkopf abgesetzt. Die Wangen sind meergrün. Kinn und Kehle sind weiß. Das schwarze Gefieder des hinteren Körpterteils ist durch ein schmales weißes Seitenband einen fast runden weißen Fleck an den Bürzelseiten scharf abgesetzt. Geschlechtsreife Erpel haben wie die Weibchen sichelförmig gekrümmte innere Armschwingen. Im Ruhekleid sind die weißen Feder am Oberkopf durch schwarzbraune ersetzt. Die Kopfseiten und die Vorderbrust ist hell zimtbraun. Das übrige Körpergefieder ist dunkelbraun bis schwarzbraun.
Das Weibchen hat ein braunes Gefieder. Es kann aber anhand der Größe und dem Körperbau leicht von allen Enten außer anderen Eiderenten unterschieden werden. Verglichen mit den Weibchen der Eiderente ist bei den Weibchen der Prachteiderente das Gefieder rötlicher, der Schnabel ist etwas kürzer, und das Körpergefieder ist anders als bei der Eiderente nicht gebändert, sondern wirkt mit Ausnahme des Kopfes schuppenförmig getüpfelt. Brust und die Körperunterseite sind schwarzbraun. Der Schnabel und die Füße haben eine grünbraune Farbung. Die Iris ist schmutziggelb. Das Ruhekleid des Weibchens gleicht dem Brutkleid. Allerdings sind die Farbkontraste etwas schwächer ausgeprägt, und das schuppenförmige Muster ihres Körpergefieders ist weniger auffällig.
Die Prachteiderente brütet entlang der arktischen Küste von Nordosteuropa, Asien und Nordamerika. Das Brutgebiet ist nicht geschlossen, sonders weist besonders im atlantischen Bereich weite Verbreitungslücken auf. Die Prachteiderente fehlt zum Beispiel als Brutvogel auf Island und den Küsten Norwegens, da auf Grund des warmen Golfstromes diese Regionen für Prachteiderenten nicht als Brutstätte in Frage kommen.[3] Sie kommt auf den nördlichen Polarmeeren in Küstennähe vor, und wandert flussaufwärts auch bis zu 100 km ins Binnenland, wo sie dann oft an Seen brütet. Sie überwintert etwas weiter im Süden in Norwegen und im östlichen Kanada, wo sie in passenden Küstengewässern auch große Gruppen bilden kann. Schwerpunkt der Verbreitung ist die Subarktis. Ihre südliche Verbreitungsgrenze ist der Beginn der Strauchtundra. Sie brütet an der westlichen Küste Spitzbergens, auf der Halbinsel Kanin, der Jenissej-Mündung und an dem südlichen und mittleren Teil von Nowaja Semljas. Sie kommt an der Küste Nordostsibiriens vor und ist dort bis zur Tschuktschen-Halbinsel verbreitet. Ist Ostsibirien brütet sie gelegentlich auch im Binnenland.[4]
Prachteiderenten nutzen stärker als die Eiderenten die Gewässer der Tundra. Dies bedingt auch eine etwas andere Nahrungszusammensetzung.
Die Überwinterungsquartiere der Prachteiderente sind die Teile der arktischen Meere, die eisfrei bleiben. Zu den Überwinterungsquariteren zählen die Südwestküste Grönlands. Sie überwintert in kleinerer Zahl auch in Island und an den nördlichen schottischen Inseln. Überwinterungsgäste gibt es in geringer Zahl auch der nördlichen und mittleren Küste Norwegens. Sie erscheint in dieser Jahreszeit auch verhältnismäßig häufig im nordöstlichen Teil der Ostsee. Es handelt sich dabei um Prachteiderenten, die auf den Inseln und an der Küste des Weißen Meeres brüten. An der dänischen, der südschwedischen sowie den west- und mitteleuropäischen Küsten ist die Prachteiderente ein verhältnismäßig seltener Irrgast.
More info (also other languages):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Eider
or
Pulicat Lagoon is the second largest brackish water lagoon in India, after Chilika Lake. Pulicat Lagoon is considered to be the second largest brackish water body in India measuring 759* km2. The Lagoon is one the three important wetlands to attract North-East Monsoon rain clouds during October to December season to Tamil Nadu. (AP) The lagoon was cut across in the middle the Sriharikota Link Road, which divided the water body into lake and marshy land. The lake encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary.
Every year approximately 15,000 greater flamingos are reported to visit the lake along with pelicans, kingfishers, herons, painted storks, spoonbills and ducks. The highest concentrations of flamingo are found in the periphery of the lagoon where the water level is below40 centimetres (16 in). The concentrations of flamingos are also associated with high algal, fish and benthic diversity.Other water birds in the area include spot-billed pelican, seven species of herons and egrets, painted stork, greater flamingos, ducks, 20 species of shorebirds, gulls, terns, little grebe, Indian cormorant, little cormorant, Asian openbill stork, black-headed ibis, Eurasian spoonbill, lesser whistling teal, spotbill duck, great thick-knee and stone curlew. Several species of wintering waterfowl have been noted including bar-headed goose, ruddy shelduck, Eurasian wigeon, common teal, northern pintail, garganey, northern shoveller, common pochard, brown-headed gull, black-headed gull, whiskered tern, gull-billed tern and Caspian tern. Birds of prey which appear in winter are the: white-bellied sea eagle, harriers and peregrine falcons.
decoy scorpionfish - A marvel of adaptation, this ambush predator sports a dorsal fin that resembles a small fish - complete with eyes and mouth. It lies on the bottom, slowly undulating the fin and waits for a victim to approach the decoy. Once the victim draws near enough, it becomes a meal for the crafty scorpionfish.
North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NEIFCA) operates a modern purpose built patrol/research vessel from the port of Whitby, North Yorkshire.
North Eastern Guardian III is unique in her class. She has been designed and equipped to operate as a state of the art research/monitoring platform and is
equipped for Acoustic Ground Discrimination, sub sea surveying and biological/benthic habitat assessment. To compliment the vessel and enhance her abilities she also carries a 6m RIB equipped with net/trap hauler.
The rib allows near shore working of survey equipment, in locations that other larger vessels would not be able to access.
The rib is also available for works independent of NEG III as she
can be transported on her own trailer.
The walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere.
Walrus live mostly in shallow waters above the continental shelves, spending significant amounts of their lives on the sea ice looking for benthic bivalve molluscs. Walruses are relatively long-lived, social animals, and are considered to be a "keystone species" in the Arctic marine regions.
Male Atlantic walrus weigh an average of 900 kg (2,000 lb).[4] The Atlantic walrus also tends to have relatively shorter tusks and somewhat more flattened snout.
Females weigh about two-thirds as much as males, with the Atlantic females averaging 560 kg (1,230 lb), sometimes weighing as little as 400 kg (880 lb), and the Pacific female averaging 800 kg (1,800 lb).
Length typically ranges from 2.2 to 3.6 m (7 ft 3 in to 11 ft 10 in). Newborn walruses are already quite large, averaging 33 to 85 kg (73 to 187 lb) in weight and 1 to 1.4 m (3 ft 3 in to 4 ft 7 in) in length across both sexes and subspecies.
All told, the walrus is the third largest pinniped species, after the two elephant seals. Walruses maintain such a high body weight because of the blubber stored underneath their skin. This blubber keeps them warm and the fat provides energy to the walrus.
This image was taken at Longyearbyen in Spitsbergen
A ctenophore drifts among the black abyss during a blackwater dive off Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
This was definitely one of the hardest photographic endeavors I have ever undertaken. Trying to keep your buoyancy in check while focusing and getting the exposure right on macro subjects (sometimes less than 1cm big) as they drift by you in a matter of seconds was incredibly frustrating...so...where can I sign up again???
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Photographed in the Falkland Islands
Please click twice on the image to view at the largest size
As with the photo I posted yesterday of the Black-browed Albatross, I took this photo in a nesting area on West Point Island that was inhabited by nesting Black-browed Albatross and Rock Hopper Penguins. It was my first opportunity to see this species and they didn't disappoint. What a great looking penguin with its red eye and crew cut.
The Trip - (01/01/23 to 01/21/23)
On the first day of 2023, my wife and I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in preparation for a cruise to Antarctica, via The Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. We’d never visited Antarctica and, in fact, felt a little unprepared for this trip since we’d only been on one cruise previously...and that was many years ago when we went on a cruise to Alaska…and that one trip to Alaska was enough to let my wife know that she was very prone to seasickness. Consequently, she was very concerned about this much longer trip because of the potential for rough weather.
We spent several days in Buenos Aires before we finally boarded the ship on 01/06/23 and headed off towards the Falkland Islands. The ship we were on was very nice…clean and comfortable room, friendly staff, incredibly interesting folks for lectures: A former astronaut, a former college professor with a doctorate in Ornithology and a geologist.
The photos:
Until we made landfall in the Falklands, the only wildlife we would see were the many pelagic birds that occasionally accompanied our ship. The larger birds, albatross, giant petrels, etc. managed to effortlessly soar over the swells, seemingly without ever flapping their wings. The smaller birds like the prions, also appeared to not waste much energy flapping their wings and were fun to watch as they maneuvered back and forth alongside our ship. Most of the photos I took from the ship were taken from our balcony on deck six. The balcony was a great location for landscape shots when we were near shore…but the height above the water made it difficult to photograph birds that were close to the water’s surface. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. :-)
I plan to post photos taken at the several various locations we visited, as well as any I took while we were underway. I apologize in advance for the small size of the underway photos because they were taken either from the ship’s bow, stern or our balcony on deck 6, and I was a long way from the water. For the most part, and for no particular reason, I’ll be posting the photos chronologically.
======================
From Wikipedia: The southern rockhopper penguin group (Eudyptes chrysocome), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as around the southern coasts of South America.
Appearance:
Rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) are among the smaller species of penguin. After reaching full growth, they are about 20 inches or 50 centimetres in height.[1] Males and females cannot be distinguished visually, so a DNA test is conducted by taking a feather from the bird to determine its gender. Like many penguins, rockhopper penguins have a white belly and the rest of their body is black. Some characteristics that differentiate them from the other penguins are their red eyes, orange beak, pink webbed feet, and the yellow and black spiky feathers they have on their head. Although their yellow and black spiky feathers differentiate them from other penguins, rockhopper penguin chicks do not have them; these feathers develop with age. Their orange beak is initially black, but as the penguins get older, their beaks turn orange. Due to the harsh rocky environment, they cannot slide on their bellies like most penguins, so they hop to get from one place to another, hence their name.
The yellow and black ‘hair’ they have on the top of their head is similar to that of the Macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus).
Diet:
The rockhopper penguin's diet consists of krill and small crustaceans, which may include shrimp, crabs, lobsters or crayfish. They also eat squid and myctophid fish. Rockhopper penguins consume more krill than they do fish; their diet changes during migration and as the seasons change. Rockhopper penguins can be at sea for several days while hunting. They can dive up to 330 feet (100 m) for many minutes at a time while searching for prey.
Dive limitations:
Because foraging conditions and outcomes are so variable, several factors can limit foraging practices. The timing of breeding, incubation and brooding periods greatly affect foraging time, as females are unable to leave broods for long periods of time. Females during the brooding period will follow a much more fixed foraging schedule, leaving and returning to the colony at roughly the same time each day. When not in breeding season, females have much more variability in the length of foraging trips. If females have low energy levels because they are fasting while provisioning chicks, they may make several short foraging trips instead of one longer one.
While benthic dives are efficient and favorable for rockhoppers, they present physiological limitations such as limits in lung capacity, which affects duration of dives. The longest aerobic dive rockhoppers can perform is about 110 seconds long, but dives can last upwards of 180–190 seconds.
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