"Do penguins make a sound" is the question I was asked by The Reception Class at St. Edmundsbury Church of England School in Bury St. Edmunds,  This class is learning about penguins, and their teacher loves penguins (who doesn't!! :😃❤️!!!)

The answer is yes. A bird research team at Palmer Station has an excellent video about this on their "palmer_birders" Instagram page (please click on the link or the photo above). The group is led by Dr. Megan Cimino. Two of her team members have been coming here doing bird work for years: Darren and Megan Roberts. Bird work includes not just penguins, but other birds also, such as the southern giant petrels. They work long days in the field, and have lots of cool data (pun intended!).

Palmer Station, my temporary home, is one of three US stations in Antarctica. It is located on the western Antarctic Peninsula, which has a more maritime ("warmer") climate and is farthest from the Pole. Temperatures in the austral summer hover just above freezing. So, yes, it can be warmer at Palmer Station than say, Lubbock,  Texas in winter! 

Palmer station is on an island (Anvers Island) and is surrounded by mountains - mountains on Anvers Island and  mountains of the Peninsula proper, with sheer cliffs rising 4000-5000 feet above sea level. These mountains thus provide a picturesque view no matter where you look.

Chinstrap penguins are my favorite penguin species. They are more of a sub-Antarctic species, but their numbers have been growing as the Antarctic Peninsula continues to warm.

A small Solas boat 'Acrux' on its way to help out another Solas ('Bellatrix'). Bellatrix's engine stopped working and the whale research team was stranded. Help is never far away. Acrux managed to tow Bellatrix back to station successfully.