TERRY’S PENGUIN BLOG

12 December 2012

Take a look at this lady. I think you’ll be impressed. She’s our new arrival, she loves penguins so much she came all the way from Scotland to Antarctica and she’s—wait for it—eighty-six years of age! Now that’s commitment for you.

Veronica’s her name. She’ll be staying with us at the Locket Island study center for the next three weeks, and we can’t wait to see how she settles in.

As you see from the photo, she’s already out there, enjoying the view of 5,000 Adélie penguins. She’ll be getting to know all their little ways . . . and ours.

She has already digested plenty of knowledge about the Adélies. She knows, for example, that their favorite dish is the tiny shrimplike crustacean known as krill, and that it’s the Antarctic springtime at the moment, which means massive changes lie ahead for the birds. Many of them are sitting on their nests now, ready for new life to begin.

Veronica commented that the stony nests didn’t look very comfortable or very warm. She has a point, but we must remember the penguins themselves are lined with layer upon layer of fat. They also wear coats made of superspecialized insulating feathers. Cold just isn’t an issue for them the way it is for us.

Speaking of which, in case anyone is worried, Veronica is fighting fit and well equipped for her stay here. Her quantities of weather-appropriate clothing are only matched by her quantities of determination. She is going to need both.