Pack Ice

December 13, 2008

The ice goes out, the ice comes in. Ever since the frozen sea ice broke into pieces, those pieces have been roaming around the Ross Sea in a grinding pack, driven before changing winds. This morning, about 50% of our ocean view was covered by pack ice, but, by afternoon, ice covered 97% of that same view.

The penguins seem to enjoy the pack ice. They perch on the mini icebergs, dive off them, hop from floe to floe, swim under them, and scramble across thin spots. When the penguins decide to exit the water, they swim rapidly toward the surface and arc five or six feet in the air, falling in a heap on the adjacent raised ice edge. I was lying on my stomach this afternoon, angling for a good camera view, when a very wet penguin shot out of the water next to me and landed squarely on my back! I’m not sure which of us was more surprised.

Penguins On An Ice Floe

Penguins In The Pack Ice

A Penguin Hops Across A Crack

Penguins Diving From A Mini Iceberg

5 Responses to 'Pack Ice'

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1. ::smile:: I can just see your face. What the??? Penguin: Hello…um….interesting surface….soft….mmmmmm..okay bye now. It’s not everyday someone can say my back was used as a landing surface by a Penguin??? lucky dude.

   

   fluffy cloud

   14 Dec 08 at 5:15 am

    

2. Funny!
   Reminds me of when one of my dogs decided to jump on the couch from behind the backrest… In midair he realised that I was lying there so he managed to somehowchange direction and land by my feet instead of on top of me.

   I so enjoy your pictures and your writing about the penguins!

   

   allmycke

   14 Dec 08 at 7:33 am

    

3. That is such a great story. I can’t imagine having a penguin land on me while I was taking a photo. It has been fun reading your posts and we all look forward to more.

   ~Taylor

   

   Taylor Yeager

   14 Dec 08 at 8:39 am

    

4. Awesome photos! I laughed out loud when I read about your surprise. Incredible.

   

   vickie

   14 Dec 08 at 10:10 am

    

5. LOL! Someday you should write a book about your very unique life experiences.

   

   Jan, Richmond VA

   14 Dec 08 at 3:08 pm

    

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