CAPE CROZIER

The jagged edge of the vast Ross Ice Shelf is seen rising up above and beyond the relatively flat fast ice that lies in between Cape Crozier and the Ross Ice Shelf. This fast ice can break up each year by late summer but the Ross Ice Shelf is permanent and thick.

Adelie penguins surround the Cape Crozier message post erected on 22 January 1902 by Scott's National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04. The edge of the permanent Ross Ice Shelf can be seen in the distance.

The emperor and Adelie penguin colonies at Cape Crozier are the subject of long-term studies of population dynamics and social behavior. The Adelie penguin colonies are located on the bare ground of Cape Crozier. The emperor penguin colony is located along the base of the jagged cliffs of the Ross Ice Shelf in the distance and was the first discovered breeding colony of emperor penguins.


Here's the emperor penguin colony on fast ice at the base of the permanent Ross Ice Shelf at Cape Crozier.

The Cape Crozier breeding colony of emperor penguins is the farthest south of the emperor penguin breeding sites. The most important physical characteristics of emperor penguin colonies are stable fast ice, nearby open water, access to fresh snow, and shelter from the wind [1].

Here's a closer view of the emperor penguins on the fast ice at the base of the permanent Ross Ice Shelf. The chicks are the shorter downey gray penguins. During Scott's second Antarctic expedition starting in late June 1911, Wilson, Bowers, and Cherry-Garrard undertook the famous "worst journey in the world" to travel seventy miles from Cape Evans to visit this breeding colony during polar darkness. They were beset by bitter cold and winds throughout their thirty-six day trip and were successful in collecting several emperor penguin eggs for embryological studies.


An emperor penguin chick begs a parent for a feeding of regurgitated food.

The small Cape Crozier emperor penguin colony has varied in the number of fledgling chicks over the years, from total losses some years due to blizzards and other hardship to a recorded high of 1,325 [1,3].

1: Antarctic Science 5(2):143-148, 1993; 2: Antarctic Ecosystems: Ecological Change and Conservation. GL Kooyman, JL Mullins, KR Kerry, G Hempel, eds. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1990. pp. 169-176 ; 3: Nature 203(4947):849-851, 1964

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Norbert Wu. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Norbert Wu. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?