Chinstrap Penguin

Description:

Please check out the video of the penguins porpoising! These are medium-sized penguins. Adults are black on the back and top of the head, with a white face and belly. They get their name from the black strip that runs from behind the eye to under the beak. In the area we were in, these were the most common penguins to be seen porpoising in the water. They were very quick and hard to get good photos of! Their main predators are leopard seals.

Habitat:

Spends a lot of time in surprisingly open oceans, quite far from any land. Needs solid, snow-free ground for nesting on.

Notes:

The first Antarctic penguins we encountered on our trip, and by far the most numerous. Sometimes groups of at least fifty would be swimming around the ship!