What's so Royal about the Royal Tour?

16 Oct 2009

What's so Royal about the Royal Tour?

By Blog.Admin

South Georgia King Penguin Rookery
South Georgia King Penguin Rookery

There are 17 (some say 18) species of penguins in the world. The largest are Emperor Penguins, followed by King Penguins. The breeding cycle of the Emperor Penguin is entirely different from all other species. King Penguins have an interesting breeding adaptation too. The biology of these birds make it night onto impossible to encounter them in the wild with chicks at the same time. Once again, however, Kapitan Khlebnikov has made the impossible possible.

Is the obvious pun the only reason this particular expedition can be called the Royal Tour? Not on your life! While we sail down the Beagle Channel, we will most likely encounter Magellanic Penguins porpoising through the water beside the ship. (Are you keeping track - we are up to 3 species of penguins and we aren't breathing hard.)

In the Peninsula, we should encounter Adelie, Gentoo and Chinstraps. That doubles the count to 6 species. When we reach South Georgia, we should see our first crested-penguin - Macaroni. Now we are up to 7. The second crested-penguin will be in the Falklands - the Rockhopper. Count 'em - 8 species of penguins in one expedition. That really makes this the Royal Tour for penguin lovers!

Categories

Back to Top