08 Feb 2025

Penguin Paradise at Macquarie Island

This morning, our wildlife experience at Macquarie Island began early – in fact during breakfast, as a pod of Orcas was observed close to Heritage Adventurer, feeding with seabirds on a bait ball of fish. Many of us hurried to the outer decks to see the action, but the windows in the dining room also provided great views of the fascinating behaviour. What a fantastic start to what was to be another fabulous day on our In the Wake of Scott and Shackleton expedition.

Once Heritage Adventurer was at anchor again at Macquarie Island, we landed at Buckles Bay, close to the Australian Antarctic Division Station. Here we chatted to the staff about their life and research. Groups of moulting Gentoo Penguins had taken up residence amongst the station’s buildings – a most incongruous sight! On nearby beaches, we observed more Gentoo and King Penguins, Macquarie Shags and Giant Petrels, and large numbers of moulting Elephant Seals in the tussock grass. The climax of our visit was a climb to Razorback Lookout for a fabulous panorama of the island. What a wonderful morning - but there was even better to come!

At Lusitania Bay, we Zodiac cruised under blue skies to see Macquarie Islands’ largest King Penguin colony of over 100,000 birds. It stretched for more than a kilometre along the shoreline – a hugely impressive sight of almost unimaginable numbers. Hundreds of boisterous penguins also swarmed around the Zodiacs and our trusty expedition vessel, apparently as curious about us as we were about them. What an intimate and endearing experience!

As we finally left Macquarie Island, we passed close to Hurd Point, home to the islands and, therefore the world’s largest, colony of Royal Penguins. Strung out along the shore and up the hillside, it was hundreds of thousands strong, a remarkable sight. Macquarie Island may support up to 4 million penguins, making this single island an incredible paradise for penguins.
 
Yet our visit wasn’t quite over. A further 60 kilometres south, we passed close to the remote and rugged Bishop and Clerk Rocks, home to yet more penguins and seabirds. Finally, as a glorious sun was setting on another wonderful day of exploring, Heritage Adventurer set course south into the Southern Ocean. We were buzzing after such a fantastic day - and excited about our next destination, Antarctica!

Images © S. Bradley, K. Sutherland & C. Perry, Heritage Expeditions