Island Update
One of our directors Julie McInnes was fortunate to head to Macquarie Island onboard a Heritage Expeditions voyage last month. There is a lot happening at this time of the year on the island.
The Weaners
The beaches are covered in elephant seal weaners and the shallow coastal pools can appear like a weaner soup. These bundles of baby fat are fed for around three weeks by their mother before they are weaned and left to fend for themselves.
They spend another 4-6 weeks ashore after weaning where they have the hectic task of sleeping, playing, and chasing random things along the beach, like feathers or in our case a king penguin dragging a piece of kelp around its foot – this was a very fun thing for a weaner to chase along the beach!
The Royal Penguins
During late November/early December it is also incredibly busy in the seabird colonies. Royal penguin chicks are hatching and the entry and exit points to colony are a busy road of birds coming and going from sea to feed the chick and change over shared parental duties.
The King Penguins
The king penguin colonies are increasing in size with pairs beginning to lay eggs, last season’s chicks still walking around with patches of down and screeching like disgruntled teenagers and another cohort of birds ready to undergo their annual catastrophic moult, where they come ashore for three weeks to lose all their feathers and replace them with a shiny new set for the year ahead.
Meanwhile, the skuas and giant petrels are making the most of these busy times raising their own chicks to make the most of the large amount of potential food in the colonies. This is also the case at sea, with killer whales cruising the coastline waiting for unsuspecting weaners and juvenile king penguins to take to the water. Overhead light-mantled albatross are flying past, often in formation with a partner, their iconic calls filling the air and resonating above the sound of the wind. Out at sea, black-browed and grey-headed albatross are foraging while their partners are incubating eggs in the south of the island, and the wandering albatross chicks have recently fledged, starting their epic journey at sea
