They tend to use the same routes up the slope each time, which researchers call "penguin highways". While we were walking around the island, we had to be careful not to walk on the penguin highways in case we blocked their way or caused the route to fall apart under our big boots.
Gentoo penguins are usually 20 to 35 inches tall, which makes them the third-largest species of penguin (after the emperor penguin and the king penguin). An adult gentoo weighs between nine to 19 pounds. They are black and white, with a big white strip across the top of their heads and a bright orange bill. Their weight changes a lot depending on whether they have molted, and also if they have a chick. These penguins have adapted very well for cold climates. Gentoos get very hungry while they are busy guarding their chicks in the nest. They are the fastest swimmers of all penguins and can reach speeds of up to 22 miles per hour!
This massive group of hundreds of gentoos on the hillside were very loud. Listening to their choruses was fascinating. They chanted in irregular rhythms, but these were clearly very instinctive rhythms throughout the colony. It wasn’t just a cacophony of sound like I expected--there seemed to be more purpose than that. One penguin would start a particular call, then gradually the rest of the colony would adapt to mimic it. Eventually they all became one united sound. Then we would hear a slightly different call jump out and the other penguins would change to reflect the new call. It was really interesting to stand at the foot of the hill and hear their sounds morph into different rhythms and textures!
