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Half-Moon Island On the mostly snowless Half-Moon Island, we observed chinstrap penguins up close. Flapping flippers and squawking penguins made this a lively scene. Penguin rookeries resemble cities of people just standing around. One bird in each pair guards the nest while the other goes out to hunt and eat. But it seemed to me that some of them just hopped aimlessly from place to place. During our visit, this colony was raising this year's generation of baby chicks. They hatch in pairs, and usually only one lasts the year. Our expert guides predicted a difficult year for the birds, I'm sorry to report. |