froginhotwater.com Nov, 2013Going South, First Trip page 3
For such a seemingly hostile environment there are lots of birds and animals (and penguins) who make the McMurdo area their home. Some year-round and some just for the summer.
This is a Minke whale, the smallest of the whales. Named after Captain Minke who had a habit of exaggerating the size of his catch.
The other morning commute. It's not possible to watch Adelie penguins and not laugh. They're Antarctica's clown troupe.
This is McCormicks Skua, now called the South Polar Skua. They are the Gannets of the antarctic, they will eat anything. You can tell by their bills that they are carnivorous when the food is available. They are always around McMurdo Station and one has even been sighted at the South Pole Station. It's the only known bird species to have traveled to the south pole. As juveniles they range as far north as the Oregon coast and I think that I've even seen one in Puget Sound (now called the Salish Sea).
