Page 60 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

Regardless of size or breed, penguins are raucous and smelly

birds. They bray variously but always loudly. Their rookeries are
detectable far away from the colonies because of the intense

odor of their guano. Perhaps an exclusive diet of seafood will
produce that problem?

Our Zodiac explorations started off in very bumpy seas that made
boarding the little rubber boats quite a challenge. The wonderful

able-bodied seaman made it all happen without incident
however. There was rain in our faces under overcast skies. We all

knew better than to complain however since we had already been
told that our weather in this area has been extraordinarily good.

Some years the seaside explorations to Snare’s Island are made
impossible by the rough and tumble seas! So we happily

scrambled aboard the Zodiacs and looked eagerly through the
raindrops at the scenes passing by us.

Our Snare’s Island circumnavigations were made so entertaining
by the funny antics of the penguins we saw there and we were

able to get so close to them that we could have touched them had
that been permitted. Of course, we were also warned that they

are aggressive and could easily snap off a fingertip. So no one
tried that trick. We also enjoyed the beauty of the island with its

dense forests of daisy trees in partial bloom where tiny little
warbler-sized birds were flitting and hopping. We saw the tiny
black and white tomtits, the lovely white and elegant Antarctic

terns, the interesting fern birds, sooty shearwaters, and the
strikingly marked red-billed gulls with their bright white feathers

so sharply contrasted with their bright red bills and red feet

The Zodiacs maneuvered us deftly into little inlets where we could
approach the penguins and watch an injured elephant seal on

shore. He had a big gash on his shoulder that appeared to be from
60