Before work on Saturday I headed down to Hut Point to look at the growing pool of open water and to check on the Skua chick. The weather was gray and overcast when I arrived it was also windy and cold which as you know by now is a very common occurrence here.

As for the chick it is getting bigger by the day, about a quarter the size of the adult now. It was out strutting around stretching its little wings. The parents seem much more protective now that the chick is more mobile. The female parent who was there when I arrived quickly summoned the male to help here defend the nest. I didn’t stay long as we are strictly admonished by the Antarctic Treaty not to interact with the wild life.

I headed back to the point to check for whales and seals. All I found was one “sea slug” crawling out of the water. As it inched along it rolled and arched apparently in an effort to scratch and massage its back. I checked for whales in the open water and after finding none I headed back to town.

About half way back to town I began to run into people migrating toward the point. I told them about the seal and the Skua and that there was nothing else visible. They pointed down towards the point and said, “what about the penguins”? I had just left there moments before and didn’t see them. I was there alone but somehow someone saw them from somewhere other than the point and had spread the word. The news that penguins were in the area set off a lemming like movement of McMurdoites towards the point. The funny thing is everyone migrates, newbie’s and old timers alike. Such is the affect of these little guys on people. I couldn’t resist and reversed course to join the rest of the lemmings headed for the cliff. I watched with unabashed glee as the little guys tobogganed and waddled along. They eventually headed for the open water. I hoped to see them jump in for a little swim and lunch but when they arrived at the waters edge they bobbed and craned their little necks for about ten minutes and then all laid down on the ice edge. Somehow I think they know that killer whales are lurking in the area and chose not to jump in. The funny thing is, like lemmings, when one jumps in they all jump in without regard to the danger lurking in the water.