Hadar and penguins

A science team on station is collecting data on transects, week after week, and year after year. The small vessel they use is Hadar, a rigid hull inflatable boat or RHIB (see first photo). Data are collected to understand more about the ocean environment that is home to penguins, whales and seals. Today - while I was helping out - we saw heavy penguin traffic on a bergy bit (i.e., mini-iceberg). Penguins shooting out of the water to land on the ice (with some scrambling involved sometimes), and some dropping right back into the cold water.

It is pretty amazing how a penguin has so much speed and strength that it can porpoise - a movement whereby a penguin is airborne for just a moment before it dives right back in. Incredible!

Thanks Sneha and Matt for having me join on Hadar.