Shooting Penguins

A Short Story

About 2 BC (Before Covid) we spent a couple of weeks sailing in the South Atlantic around the Antarctic (Souther Ocean). One of the first things that caught our attention were the penguins in the water around the ship. They weren’t easy to spot at first but after awhile we caught on to what to look for. First they swim fast! Not just fast but really fast and often barely break the surface and in a second are gone. Generally their backs are black so they’re difficult to locate against the dark water but it’s the bursts of disturbed white water that attracts your attention.

FYI – A group of penguins on land is called a Waddle, probably because that’s what they do. But a group of swimming penguins is called a raft, because they often swim on the surface in groups. Penguins spend most of their time in the ocean, diving for food just swimming. Their torpedo shaped bodies are perfectly designed for what looks like high speed flight underwater. If you spend some time watching them swim at a zoo or aquarium with a live penguin exhibit you’ll see what I’m talking about.

I have spent a fair amount of time trying to photograph some birds in flight. It isn’t impossible to do because you can track the bird with the camera. But my best description of a raft of penguins in the water is they’re like jet propelled black beans in a large bowl of black bean soup. Almost as soon as they attract attention they are gone from sight. I took dozens and dozens of photographs that turned out to be just water. And the few images that captured a penguin or two were blurred by motion.

Visiting a Waddle of penguins on land is a whole different experience. We found they don’t pay any attention to people. You can walk right up to the Waddle and into it and most likely they’ll just step aside to let you through.

we still are looking to shoot some more penguins 😉