A pair of Magellan Penguins walk towards the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Argentina at the San Lorenzo reserve.Dean Jacobs, Fremont Tribune
The sun seems to burn brighter in Patagonia. “The
scientists say the ozone is thinner in Patagonia,” Claudia Hume said.
Hume was my host and personal guide for my stay in Puerto Madryn,
Argentina.
To my untrained eye, it looked to be true.
For
sure, the penguins that stood in the sun in front of me would probably
also agree as they attempted to keep cool in the intense light.
The
Magellanic penguins are found on the southern coasts of South America
and are named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who spotted
the birds in 1520.
These cute little sea birds grow to be
about 2 feet tall and weigh between 6 and 14 pounds. This weight can
vary, depending on whether they have a full stomach of food they are
bringing for their chicks.
For me, a visit to the Henrly
Doorly Zoo in Omaha always included a stop by the penguin exhibit. To
see them in the wild, by the thousands, is a whole different experience.
With
the help of a friend, I was invited to visit the Estancia San Lorenzo, a
location that shelters a reproduction colony of Magellanic penguins.
The estancia, or ranch, sits on the shores of the San Matías Gulf,
inside the Punta Norte area on the Valdés Peninsula. The entire
peninsula is a Unesco World Heritage site and one of the best places to
see wildlife in Argentina.
Every year, from August until
March, around 200,000 breeding pairs of penguins continue their life
cycle at the Estancia San Lorenzo colony. They nest, breed, mate and
wait for their eggs to hatch.
Both parents feed the young and teach them
basic strategies to become independent in the sea. “The
penguins mate for life, and come back to the same location year after
year,” Hume explained. “The male reclaims his burrow from the previous
year and waits to reconnect with his female partner.”
As
far as my eye could see in the scrub brush, penguins stood guard over
nests and the two chicks they housed. The nests were built under bushes
or in burrows. By mid-January, the chicks had grown considerably but
were still covered with gray fuzz.
The parents take turn
at sea, for sometimes as long as two weeks, where each one fills its
stomach with fish and squid. When it returns, the two chicks pester the
parent nonstop for the rich food its stomach holds.
One
of the current challenges for Magellanic penguins is the impact climatic
change is having on food supplies. Researchers have discovered the
penguins have to go farther to find food, and some apparently don’t make
it back before the chicks and the other parent have starved to death.
One
of the best moments with the penguins was watching a fat parent as it
waddled up from the blue ocean across the tan sand with a full stomach.
It stepped from one side to the other and looked like it was almost
going to topple over. One penguin was so full, it just lay down on its
stomach and rested for a couple of moments before jumping back up and
continuing its march toward the nest.
Walking around as a
guest of the penguins found me face-to-face within an arm’s reach of
these smartly dressed birds. As I approached a penguin, it would cock
its head back and forth out of curiosity. It was like it was trying to
size up what kind of penguin I was. Eventually, it would close its eyes
and go back to sleep.
I kept my close encounters brief,
not wanting to add more stress to an already stressed parent. The
penguins at San Lorenzo are habituated but are still wild, which allows
for a personal and up-close encounter with one of nature’s adorable
creatures. “I’ve never seen it but would like to, when in
March and the time is right all the juveniles will enter the sea at the
same time. Off they go, learning how to swim and survive,” Hume said.
“Overnight the beach becomes empty until next August, when the cycle
continues once again.”
I’d like to see that, too.
