| Of the approximately 15 worldwide species of | | | | Antarctica, penguins are able to survive low |
| penguins, five are prevalent in South America, | | | | temperature, icy climactic conditions by means of |
| among them the Gentoo, Rockhopper, King, | | | | their warm, dense, interlocking, waterproof |
| Macaroni, and Magellanic, the latter of which | | | | feathers and under-skin, insulating fat layers, all of |
| comprise the largest group and can be viewed at | | | | which serve to create excessive, unwanted heat |
| the Punta Tombo Penguin Rookery on the | | | | during extended swims. In order to counteract |
| eastern coast of Argentina. | | | | this condition, upon exiting the water they utilize a |
| Access, via Trewel, requires an Argentinean | | | | process called "thermo-regulation," or |
| domestic flight or cruise ship stop in Puerto | | | | "heat-dumping," at which time they channel |
| Madryn, followed by a two-and-a-half hour drive, | | | | excessive amounts of blood to the flippers, which |
| by rental car or sightseeing tour, to the actual | | | | "flush" like humans, temporarily changing their |
| rookery. | | | | colors. |
| During an early-2007 trip, I made this very | | | | Punta Tombo, with 175,000 pairs, is the world's |
| sea-and-land excursion. My motorcoach, one of | | | | largest breading penguin colony. During |
| five making the journey, left the pier and crossed | | | | early-September, from the 10th to the 15th, the |
| the bridge toward National Route 3, the main | | | | males return to the area, refurbishing their nests |
| highway connecting Buenos Aires in the north with | | | | from the previous year, whereafter the females |
| Ushuaia in the south. Traversing Chubut, one of | | | | arrive and reunite with them, provided that the |
| Patagonia's provinces, it passed flat, dry, | | | | last mating had been a successful one. During the |
| scrub-blanketing steppe topography characteristic | | | | second half of the month, they court and two |
| of the coast, whose low, dome-shaped plants | | | | large eggs are subsequently laid in October, which |
| have adapted themselves to the dry climate, | | | | produce the first babies after a 40-day incubation |
| extreme temperatures, and constant winds | | | | period. Because the chicks are born with an initial |
| created by the Andes Mountains which inhibit | | | | thin, gray plumage to permit easy transfer of |
| annual rainfall to between six and 12 inches. | | | | warmth from the parents, they are unable to |
| Passing through Trewel, a town settled by the | | | | move very far form them until the new year, |
| Welsh where traditional afternoon tea is still | | | | requiring the parents themselves to take turns |
| served and the second-largest in the area with its | | | | venturing to sea to obtain food. They take the |
| own regional airport, the coach threaded its way | | | | exact same path everyday. |
| through the low-elevation White Hills, which | | | | Between January and February, when the early |
| appeared like the Badlands of South Dakota, and | | | | plumage has molted off, the baby penguins begin |
| intercepted the dry, dusty, gravel surface of | | | | learning how to hunt for food and they take their |
| Provincial Route 1. Indigenous South American | | | | first swims, testing the water with one webbed |
| wildlife, almost camouflaged by the low scrub, | | | | foot at a time, just like human children. |
| included the mara and the guanaco, the South | | | | The cycle now reverses: for a two- to four-week |
| American equivalent of the camel. | | | | period, the parents feed in the ocean, consuming |
| Ultimately entering the gate of a private sheep | | | | far in excess of their normal diets, in order to |
| farm, it covered the final 39 kilometers to the | | | | prepare them for the molting period from March |
| rookery, itself on the Atlantic where the hills rose | | | | to April, during which time they lose their old |
| from the predominantly flat expanses, completing | | | | feathers and regenerate new ones. Because this |
| its 170-kilometer drive from Puerto Madryn. | | | | outer covering is not waterproof, they are unable |
| A one-kilometer walk over a gravel trail led to the | | | | to return to sea, and must fast on their reserves |
| penguin colony. | | | | until the process is complete. |
| Evolution has created a penguin body design which | | | | At the end of the breeding season, penguins |
| so precisely matches its dual-parameter, | | | | migrate from the Patagonian coasts and the |
| diametrically opposed lifestyle of feeding at sea, | | | | Falklands to islands off of Brazil for the |
| yet breeding on land, that no human engineer | | | | five-month period from April to September. |
| would have ever emulated it. These diverse sea | | | | Numerous penguins had been viewed during my |
| birds, with hydrodynamic bodies, possess sleek, | | | | one-kilometer walk, but their gray, |
| extended legs, not unlike the camber of an | | | | rock-resembling skins and their semi-hidden |
| aircraft's wing, to minimize resistance during both | | | | locations, in their recessed dirt burrows beneath |
| area plunges and extended swims. Their two | | | | the low dome plants, had initially rendered them |
| short legs provide walking capability on land, yet | | | | undetectable. Crossing a wooden footbridge, |
| reduce drag in the ocean, where they induce | | | | below which a multitude of them posed toward |
| turns, much like rudders. Their flippers, also like | | | | the hot sun, and following a winding, climbing dirt |
| modified airplane wings, propel them beneath the | | | | path, I almost kicked two large, gray, initially |
| water surface and, coupled with their compact, | | | | perceived rocks on either side. Both, it turned out, |
| "fusiform" body shapes, permit rapid speeds. A | | | | had been penguins, which have no innate fear of |
| one-minute dive, for example, takes them 12 | | | | humans. |
| meters down. Contrastively, their dense bones | | | | The lava rock outcrop at the end of the trail |
| enable them to remain submerged; otherwise, | | | | overlooking the beach and the Atlantic Ocean had |
| they would float, buoyantly, to the surface. | | | | sprung from volcanic activity 120 million years ago. |
| Feeding off of small, schooling fish, crustaceans, | | | | The gray gravel beach, littered with thousands of |
| and Antarctic krill, which number in the billions in | | | | penguins, led directly into the ocean at a very |
| South Pole waters, they are able to target prey | | | | narrow angle, the very "threshold" to their |
| with their razor-sharp bills and retain anything | | | | sustenance. It was from this water that they |
| caught with their tongue- and palette-extending | | | | obtained the food to feed their chicks and |
| "spines," which ensure that ingested food cannot | | | | re-initiate the life cycle each and every year. |
| reverse its direction and escape back to the | | | | Filled with observations, thoughts, and emotions, I |
| water. | | | | turned and retraced my path back to the |
| Living in the south hemisphere, particularly in | | | | motorcoach, leaving "their" world for "mine. |
| Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands, and | | | | |