Penguins ahoy!

At times I feel like I am stepping into a discovery channel special when I walk out of my dorm. Tonight was one of those times. The weather was perfect, feeling like a typical winter day in the Rockies, and the sun was shining brightly off the ice. I grabbed my binoculars to head out to the peninsula to look for wildlife and watch the icebreaker head into the dock. After taking the short hike up to the hill on the top of the peninsula I was blown away. I was less than a hundred yards away from the Russian icebreaker as it crashed back and forth into the ice with all its might. As it surged forward you could hear the ice moaning and groaning like it wanted to shatter and crack, but the only ice cracking was directly in front of the bow. The ice would splinter, get pushed to either side of the bow, and then huge chunks would roll up on top of the sea ice from the sheer force of the ship. That, however, was not all. On the other side of the peninsula an adelie penguin was putting on a show about a hundred feet away! Adelies are smaller than emperors, but they love to flap their little nubby arms and waddle around. He would lay on his belly for a while, stand up, shake his nubs, and dive head-first into the water. After a short swim he'd get out and do it again. I can't believe that I have not seen one of these little guys until now, even though I seemed to just miss seeing them many times. They truly are as cool as everyone thinks. I just couldn't stop wondering how far I might be able to punt one of those little guys. Oh well, maybe I'll be able to try that out later in the season. Tonight was one of my favorite moments yet at McMurdo. As everyone else was sleeping I was getting the best show in town.