Penguin Mummies

December 17, 2008

Since Antarctica is so cold, things don’t decompose or change very quickly. For instance, there are still clear tracks from a bulldozer that drove to Cape Crozier in the 1960s, and we just ate a delicious pack of tortillas that expired eight years ago. Human influences last a long time, so we have to be careful to leave no trace on this near-pristine landscape. Those same forces also preserve natural disturbances and events.

Each season, many penguins die at Cape Crozier (mostly chicks) – it’s just a fact of life. On bare rocks, and in cold conditions, without insects, the carcasses don’t rot much. So, everywhere you go, you’re stepping over bodies from summers past in various stages of disarray. Skuas scavenge some of the frozen meat. Many of the carcasses eventually blow away or get covered in snow. Penguins use dismembered heads and bone fragments as “rocks” to line their nests. In sheltered areas, penguin carcasses just shrivel up and sit there, bleached by sun and snow, eventually becoming mummies. Some of these may be hundreds or even thousands of years old.

Penguin Mummy

Penguin Mummies

Penguin Carcasses Are Constantly Underfoot