Voice of the King Penguin

King Penguins live on sub-Antarctic islands located far to the north of the Antarctic continent. As ice melts from climate change - their habitat is endangered, as is their offspring from the bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals. They can be found on regional islands such as Prince Edward; Crozet; South Georgia; Kerguelen, and the Mazquarie Islands. The King Penguin’s orange ear patches clearly distinguish it from the Emperor Penguin living in the same region. Emperor Penguins have yellow ear patches. Large nest colonies numbering as many as 10,000 penguins will gather together on shore, with each bird keeping a close but respectful distance from one another. If a penguin gets to close - it will receive a beak jab or flipper slap. Gathering in large colonies to share warmth and a rotating wind break, is one of their evolved survival skills. The King Penguin runs and walks with its feet, and doesn ’t hop while on land like many other penguins. It is considered one of the biggest birds on Earth, and travels at speeds of up to 6 mph as it “flies” through the water using its wings as flip-pers. While underwater, the King Penguin is capable of performing amazing acrobats - which makes it skillful at catching fish. The total population is estimated at one million breeding pairs.

Photos by Bernard Breton