A Glorious Day at Sandy Bay
- Rediscovering New Zealand: An Expedition to the Subantarctic and South Island Adventures
- Our Adventure Begins in Queenstown
- A Day Trip to The Remarkables and Glenorchy
- Te Anu and Milford Sound
- An Overnight Cruise in Doubtful Sound with Fiordland Expeditions
- Our "Galapagos of the Southern Ocean" Expedition Officially Begins
- Embarkation Day: Setting Sail for New Zealand's Subantarctic Islands
- Navigating Rough Seas at the Snares
- A Day in the Auckland Islands
- Discovering Macquarie Island
- A Glorious Day at Sandy Bay
- Christmas at Sea and the Wonders of Campbell Island
- Exploring Enderby Island
- A Surprise Second Shot at the Snares
- From Disembarkation to Dunedin
- A Heli-hike on the Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mt. Cook
- Lake Tekapo Weather Woes
- Chasing Dusky Dolphins in Kaikoura
- Hiking the Abel Tasman Coast Track (well, part of it)
Rockhoppers are a crested penguin, like Royals and Macaroni. They have a black face like a Macaroni, but thin yellow eyebrows, which extend behind their eyes and then become spikey and black. Unlike many other penguins that waddle, rockhoppers are known for their ability to hop over rocks and rough terrain. These are southern rockhoppers. Northern rockhopper are found in Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island (middle of the Atlantic between Africa and South America), and have longer and more pronounced crest feathers.
Once ashore at Sandy Bay, Andy and I split up to capture unique perspectives with our cameras, ensuring we wouldn’t end up with identical photos. The landing site was divided into four main areas: a massive king penguin colony to the north; a beach dotted with elephant seals and royal penguins; a smaller group of king penguins near the southern river; and an elevated boardwalk area hosting a royal penguin colony, which was off-limits because they were breeding.
Sandy Bay is home to a massive population of around 170,000 breeding pairs of king penguins. There is a rope to keep visitors from walking through the colony, though the penguins didn’t always respect the boundary.
The beach was lined with elephant seals and royal penguins. We tried to respect the distance rules, but the penguins were super curious which made it impossible to stay more than 5 meters away. If you backed up from one group, others seemed to approach from behind. It was pretty awesome 🙂
The kings near the southern river seemed to be further along in their catastrophic moult, which looked very uncomfortable.
We were permitted to go to the top of the stairs to see the megafauna, but the royal colony further down the boardwalk was off limits. Andy went up to take a look, but the megafauna weren’t in bloom yet. He also get a glimpse of the colony from a distance.
The two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and before we knew it, it was time to put on our life jackets and head back to the ship.
