{"id":1865,"date":"2016-04-15T18:15:19","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T22:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/?p=1865"},"modified":"2016-05-07T15:40:57","modified_gmt":"2016-05-07T19:40:57","slug":"stealing-dirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/2016\/04\/stealing-dirt\/","title":{"rendered":"Stealing Dirt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gentoo<\/a>

Gentoo Colony<\/p><\/div>\n

Stealing Dirt, <\/em>my essay on Gentoo penguins, was\u00a0nationally broadcast on PRI’s Living on Earth during the week of\u00a0March 11 2016. You can\u00a0\u00a0listen online at LOE.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gentoo Penguin colonies are raucous and contentious\u00a0and the ones on Carcass Island, in the West Falklands, are no exception.\u00a0That continuous uproar gives them a bad name. \u201cTemperamental,\u201d people say. \u201cNasty.\u201d Not true. Penguins are delightful and the reputation that precedes them is simply wrong. They are endlessly entertaining to watch, harmless to us and by and large to each other. The noise and the short tempers are primarily the product of crowding. This despite the thin human population of the Falklands, and the fastness and expanse of South Georgia, the South Shetlands and the many small islands off the Antarctic Peninsula as well as the Peninsula itself. Suitable nesting sites for penguins of any species are few and Climate Destabilization only makes it worse. A tabular iceberg grounded in front of one of the most important colonies of Adele penguins in 2011 (picture Central Park, 120 feet high and made of ice). The giant berg blocked the Adele\u2019s route to the sea and 150,000 penguins starved. The berg came from the massive and continuing breakup of the Ross Ice Shelf, in turn a direct result of increasing temperatures. Pray for the penguins.<\/p>\n

I spent 3 weeks in the Antarctic with One Ocean Expeditions. The\u00a0Falkland Islands was our ship\u2019s first port of call. One Ocean is the most conscientious tour group I\u2019ve ever had. They were invaluable to me, and made equally certain every<\/em> passenger saw and experienced every<\/em> wildlife and landscape viewing opportunity. At the Gentoo colony on Carcass Island in the West Falklands, I watched the penguins building nests. \u00a0Penguins seem to have a well-developed sense of community and territoriality, but not the best sense of direction. \u00a0They deliberately trespass when collecting mud for their nests (hence the title “Stealing Dirt”) \u00a0– often getting away with it – and not so deliberately trespass when returning to their own turf. This they tend not to get away with. \u00a0In the banner photo above, a trespassing penguin gets the treatment from his immediate neighbors. In the photos following, you can get an idea of how the conflicts develop their extent, and the very definite limits to how much damage penguins are willing to do (no much).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A Gift of Dirt is a Gift of Love<\/p><\/div>\n

A male Gentoo\u00a0crossed over\u00a0from his\u00a0own local group to a nearby group, and comes back with a pellet of mud for their mate. \u00a0She then adds it to the nest mound. \u00a0Sometimes it’s a little more complicated:<\/p>\n

\"Back<\/a>

Back in his local group, he makes a wrong turn and gets bitten!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"It's<\/a>

It’s not much of a bite – just a mud spot on his feathers.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Finally,<\/a>

Finally, on the right street everyone notices him but no one minds his presence<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Gentoo<\/a>

Gentoo Penguins Mating<\/p><\/div>\n

Penguins reward for all this effort is lovemaking. \u00a0And I say that deliberately. \u00a0Notice how the female reaches up to touch beaks with her mate. \u00a0What is this if not the kisses of love?<\/p>\n

Thanks to One Ocean Expeditions (www.OneOceanExpeditions.com<\/a>) , I was ably to spend many hours ashore and in kayaks, with plenty of quality penguin time. The Falklands alone were\u00a0worth the trip. People are friendly, helpful, the birds close and plentiful (more about that in future columns), it is just a great place. When\u00a0in Stanley in the East Falklands, be sure to grab lunch (and an Internet connection) at The Waterfront Hotel ( www.Waterfronthotel.co.fk<\/a> ). For more information about visiting the Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula send me an email. To see more photographs,\u00a0follow me on Twitter, @marksethlender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stealing Dirt, my essay on Gentoo penguins, was\u00a0nationally broadcast on PRI’s Living on Earth during the week of\u00a0March 11 2016. You can\u00a0\u00a0listen online at LOE.org. Gentoo Penguin colonies are raucous and contentious\u00a0and the ones on Carcass Island, in the West Falklands, are no exception.\u00a0That continuous uproar gives them a bad name. \u201cTemperamental,\u201d people say. \u201cNasty.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,44,45],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1865"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1991,"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865\/revisions\/1991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksethlender.com\/test_1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}