Punta Arenas: March of the Penguins

Today we went to Punta Arenas, Chile, which overlooks the Strait of Magellan, discovered by Fernando Magellan (another interesting explorer you kids should read about).  Our adventure was going to a Magellanic penguin colony 35 miles northwest of the city, on the bleak shores of Otway Sound. (A sound is an inlet off of the ocean.) These penguins nest underground in burrows that they dig with their beaks and feet. The primary purpose of the nests is to breed. After the young ones begin to swim, the colony moves on to other waters.  Penguins live 25 – 30 years, and they always come back to the place where they were born for mating season.  They usually have 1 or 2 offspring.  They swim for food every 8 hours. Couples are always the same, and they come back to the colony for the reproduction season.  No single penguin comes with them.  It is interesting to see them march from their burrows to the ocean where they swim and frolic and seemingly chat with the other penguins.

  

Below is the march of the people to see the penguins:

Here they are! You can see them coming out of their nests to go to the sea.

Playing in the sea

Below are some videos of the penguins.  The wind was blowing extremely hard; about 70 mph. It was hard to hold the camera steady.  Turn down the volume on your computer before watching; or the sound of the wind will be too loud. Some of the penguins were having a hard time walking in the wind too!

Here is the march of the penguins to the sea for lunch. They remind me of a line of school children going to the cafeteria!



 Here they enter the sea:

Now it's recess time as they swim, play and socialize:

Here's a group that doesn't have a very good line: