"Your table is ready." Galapagos penguins are the only members of their family to live at the equator. They survive here because the surrounding currents bring cold water and the needed food supply. These are the same currents that make the variety of life so unique.
In documentaries of Antarctica, we are accustomed to seeing great colonies of penguins. That is not the case here. They are scattered in small numbers, two or three at a time.
Many of them are found on the craggy volcanic rocks five to ten feet above the water. As you can see, they tend to blend in and are difficult to spot -- until you get up close.
We didn't see any swimming or diving because this time of year they are molting. When they molt, they loose the protective oils in their feathers that keeps them dry and buoyant. If they were to jump into the sea at this time, they would drown.
How they climb onto these rocks with those stubby legs is beyond me.
In documentaries of Antarctica, we are accustomed to seeing great colonies of penguins. That is not the case here. They are scattered in small numbers, two or three at a time.
Many of them are found on the craggy volcanic rocks five to ten feet above the water. As you can see, they tend to blend in and are difficult to spot -- until you get up close.
We didn't see any swimming or diving because this time of year they are molting. When they molt, they loose the protective oils in their feathers that keeps them dry and buoyant. If they were to jump into the sea at this time, they would drown.
How they climb onto these rocks with those stubby legs is beyond me.
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