Wildlife Galore

On the East Coast of Argentina, a colony of Magellanic Penguins make their pilgrimage to Punta Tomba to stay between August and April . Here they lay their eggs, nurse their chicks, molt their old feathers for new ones and then migrate north towards the latitude line of Rio de Janeiro.

When I had arrived, they were in the process of molting. They looked quite ugly in their molting phase. To stay cool during this time, they just stood upright as the very violent wind blew away their old feathers. They are not very active during this time, but when they do walk around, they look like bobbleheads balancing their whole weight on each foot as they wobble by. They are much more graceful in the water.




Interestingly, the penguins burrow themselves in the ground in pairs. When armadillos cross their paths, they watch them carefully tilting their head back and forth to see them from each eye. Their eyesight isn't great and they don't seem to have lateral vision.




The other wildlife on the Peninsula include sea lions, elephant seals and whales.


In this photo, an Orca or Killer whale is watching over the sea lion colony for food. During this time of year, the Orcas almost beach themselves during high tide, pick up a sea lion and carry it off to eat it in the water. Unfortunately, I did not see a whale attack, but enjoyed watching four Orcas swimming about.