Adorable Antarctic Penguins Entertain Sea Shepherd Crew During Whale Defense Campaign (PHOTOS)

Kristina Pepelko
March 24, 2014

Sea Shepherd’s ships have been busy protecting the waters of Antarctica’s Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary from Japanese whalers for the last year as a part of the nonprofit’s tenth whale defense expedition, Operation Relentless.

Year after year, the organization’s fleet heads out to these chilly, southern waters in an attempt to thwart Japan’s whaling poaching activities. The journey is often challenging and dangerous. Sea Shepherd reports that their Operation Relentless team encountered three “unprovoked nighttime ambushes by the Japanese whaling fleet.”

While stress levels may often be high during these expeditions, the Sea Shepherd crew does manage to find some time to enjoy the natural beauty around them.

During Operation Relentless, Sea Shepherd’s team had the pleasure of “meeting” some of Antarctica’s most well-known characters – penguins.

As Sea Shepherd Global reports, the penguins “put a smile on the face of many a crew member as the Sea Shepherd Fleet fought to defend the sanctity of the region during Operation Relentless.”

Get acquainted with some of the Antarctic’s penguins with the photos below, courtesy of Sea
Shepherd’s Operation Relentless team members:

Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Global Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Global Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Global Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Global Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Global Andrew J. Correll / Sea Shepherd Global Andrew J. Correll / Sea Shepherd Global Andrew J. Correll / Sea Shepherd Global Andrew J. Correll / Sea Shepherd Global   Lead image source: Andrew J. Correll / Sea Shepherd Global

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