It seems so empty now--this place that was full of life mere weeks ago. Now, snow drifts are so deep that they would bury our little Gentoos. I believe that the seasonal people of South Georgia Island have locked shop and moved on. From what I understand, there is no permanent colony established on the island. All I can see now is snow and a thin ribbon of water between land and mountain.
I received a nice email from National Geographic this week, and although they do not normally sponsor cams
But in the meantime, as promised, we will get to know more penguins and perhaps learn more about their biology. This week, I'm going to peek into the Gentoo lifestyle as much as possible; the Gentoos should take a few weeks for us to know better... and in the interim, I wish to present a day in the life of a Gentoo Penguin--a pictorial I found on a travel blog. First,I want to thank the folks who took these pictures and for staying with the same penguins for what must've seemed like ages until the drama played itself out.
Next, we begin the day that a mighty battle was fought over ownership of a chick.
The battle began with a hungry skua whose intentions were not compatible with those of the parent Gentoo. The skua wanted to draw the parent away from the chicks and by doing so, to also create havoc in the nest. Sure enough, a chick wanders away from the nest. As the chick returns to the nest, another skua arrives to work in tandem in order to procure the tender chick for their next meal. 
Two skuas caused twice as much pandemonium, but not enough to separate the chicks from their parents. A desperate skua tugged at a chick in the nest while the parent was screaming at the two skuas....
And after the tag team's efforts, one of the skuas made a clean get-a-way with one of the healthy chicks.
Will the chick survive? Will a parent come to the rescue? What will happen next?
Stay tuned... more next week....
Ahay from Antarctica,
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