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Jack Tame and some penguin friends - Source: Breakfast -
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A few days ago, a small group of adelie penguins popped out of a
hole in the ice, just in front of Scott Base. There were probably
20 or so. When they were first spotted, the Scott Base comms
operator announced it over the base PA system. Dan and I
sprinted.
As is always the case, through raw chance, we'd been storing out
camera gear about as far from the penguin sighting as possible. Dan
was wearing a t shirt. I was wearing shorts. It was a -6 outside
but by the time we reached the penguins we were both puffing and
sweating.
We saw the penguins, we filmed the penguins, it was magical.
Today, Dan and I flew to Cape Bird, a remote beach in the north of
Ross Island. It has a glacier, cascading down from a snow covered
mountain reaching almost to the sea. It has a small hut built on
the beach, with two Kiwis living in cosy, homely, but still
slightly cramped quarters.
It also has 180,000 adelie penguins.
They're the cute penguins. The ones from Happy Feet that come
up to your knee, and waddle about all over the show. They slide on
their bellies, they skip through the icey ocean like pebbles across
a lake. They're curious and inquisitive. They could warm the
cockles of the coldest heart.
We edged around at first, nervous about where to go, careful not to
stand on nests. When we'd found a spot, we just lay there. The
penguins came to us. They circled us, they stared us down, they
shuffled by.
It was magical.
My smell is a little less magical. Three hours with the birds, and
I stink like a carcass in the sun.
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