The Penguins Visit Us

On 30th October 2008, we had 2 surprise visitors. At about 5PM, we saw 2 Adelie penguins hovering in the pump house area. They were tiny creatures, about 2 feet in height, with white rimmed eyes.

We rushed out to photograph them. As long as we were some distance away from them, they were relaxed, but as soon as we attempted to go close to them, we scared them off. They used to flap their ‘wings’ and run away. Many a times they were within touching distance. But we resisted the urge to touch them. We wanted them to spend some time with us. Soon, they were surrounded on all sides by eager Maitrians out to photograph them. We sat down in the snow with the penguins in the centre. They were standing quietly, sometimes squawking and calling out to each other. We photographed them at leisure and enjoyed each and every movement of theirs.

Their coat was splendid. It had a velvety appearance, white in front and black at the back and the face. It was shimmering in the evening sun. They also had a tiny tail, which used to twitch every now and then. We spent about an hour with the penguins. Then seeing that they were in no mood to leave, we went back to the station.

Now that the penguins have come here, they would surely have reached the penguin rookeries in Schirmacher. This is the ideal time to see them building their stone nests and follow their breeding season- the eggs, young ones.

But all said and done, Schirmacher Oasis is the grave yard of penguins. It is about 100km from the sea and there is no food available for the penguins and their young ones here. Hence once the eggs have been laid, one of the parents leaves for the ocean to get food while the other one incubates the eggs. The parent who stays back grows weak waiting for food. It then starts looking for food in the lakes of Schirmacher and once it is weak enough, it either dies of starvation, or is eaten by the skuas. The eggs and the unprotected chicks also meet the same fate. This is the order of nature and there is nothing to be done to change it. The penguins follow their instinct and come here looking for nesting sites and the skua does what it needs to survive.

Keep watching this column for more on the penguins.