Stéphane Pinaud
Back from Migration, 2022
Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Category - Polar Wonders
A metre of snow welcomes us for the landing on Cuverville Island in the Antarctic Peninsula. The first thing we had to do to observe the colony of gentoo penguins that occupies the island was to cross the “highway” that the penguins use to reach the ocean and their nesting grounds. The holes formed by our boots must be filled in to prevent them from becoming traps for the penguins. With global warming, snowfall is increasing in early November. The layer of snow disrupts the building of their nests, which are made of pebbles gleaned from the ground. Mid-morning, the colony’s activity intensifies with many penguins returning from migrations taking the “highway” in an almost continuous and more or less orderly line.
100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 Lens - 1/2500 sec at f/9 ISO 2000