30 Nov 2022

Kings of Macquarie Island

Rafts of King Penguins came out to greet Heritage Adventurer as she sat on anchor off Australia's wildlife haven Macquarie Island. Our second day here started with an incredible Zodiac cruise near Lusitania Bay - Macca's largest colony of Kings. It was standing room only on the shore as the regal birds jostled among each other and the occasional lumbering Elephant Seal.

The sheer number of penguins here makes for an incredible sight, and the rusting digesters they surround make for a grim reminder of the penguin oil trade here which almost wiped out the entire population of birds.

In the afternoon we returned to Sandy Bay where the wildlife spectacle was so amazing it deserved a second visit. Here we sat amongst the wildlife as processions of King and Royal Penguins passed us by, some even giving us a cheeky peck, many were puzzled as to how the cute 'weaners' could turn into the blubbery behemoths that are Elephant Seals. Over at the full sensory assault of the Royal Penguin colony, opportunistic Giant Petrels and Skua scrounged for their next meal - the entire bay was teeming with wildlife who had no time or care in the matters of the island's new visitors.

Later that afternoon, we returned to board Heritage Adventurer to share our stories over drinks at the bar as she set a course for New Zealand's subantarctic Campbell Island where the wilderness continues.

Images on file: (c) T.Bickford, Heritage Expeditions