One of the most splendid sights in nature is also one of the stinkiest

Getting up close and personal to vast colonies of penguins in Antarctica is a stupendous experience on many levels – not least when it comes to the incredible stink.

The first penguins we see are no more than tiny black dots on a passing iceberg somewhere off the coast of the South Shetland Islands, as our expedition ship, Greg Mortimer, lurches across the Drake Passage from Ushuaia on the tip of South America towards the Antarctic Peninsula.

Surrounded – king penguins at South Georgia.Credit: Michael Baynes

My fellow passengers and I stir with excitement as we squint through binoculars, but how naive we are. Before we’re done, we’ll see a million penguins – no exaggeration – and many close enough to admire their shimmering throat feathers and black, wrinkled feet.

Guidelines say we should keep our distance, especially as the arrival of avian flu in Antarctica is a major concern, but that turns out to be tricky with so many of these naturally curious creatures on every side.

While some penguins waddle off like affronted nuns when we appear, the majority shuffle towards us, fixing us with beady eyes, apparently as fascinated by us as we are by them.

This exploration of the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia with Aurora Expeditions produces one wonder after another – mountain ranges, glaciers, giant icebergs, glossy seals, albatross swooping like giant Chinese kites – but penguins are my lasting memory.

I expected penguins, of course, but not like this. Not huddled in entire battalions as far as the eye can see. Not in colonies 200,000 strong. And not assaulting all the senses with their noise, iridescent plumage, peculiar behaviour and smell.

Penguins have no consideration for pooping in the proper place. Nobody tells you that penguins have not happy feet, but stinky feet. I smell their colonies before the ship has even anchored. As we approach landing sites on Zodiacs, the ammonia in the air makes my eyes water.

My first encounter with the stench is on Cuverville Island, which has two colonies of gentoo penguins and a well-tramped trail along which individuals march between them. The ice-encrusted setting is magnificently scenic, but penguins sit oblivious on rocks, surrounded by their own excrement.

Gentoo penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Another day at Port Lockroy, penguins are nesting beneath the historic British research station where passengers like to stop off and send postcards. I doubt anyone writes home about the smell that wafts up between the floorboards, though.

The number of penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula is impressive, until we get to South Georgia. It’s on these remote sub-Antarctic islands, which gain just a few degrees of extra warmth, that colonies reach stupendous size.

Glaciers may gnaw at Haakon Bay, Greg Mortimer’s first stop, but it’s the penguins that command all the attention. Next day at Salisbury Plain there are even more, receding into the distance until they become pointillist dots on nature’s vast canvas.

The penguins themselves are outsized too, because in South Georgia you encounter king penguins. They produce a cacophony of inelegant honks and caws, and a fishy stink that must be experienced to be believed.

In wildlife documentaries and animated movies, penguins always bustle about. In real life they spend most of their time standing still, heads sunk in introspection or perhaps gloom at the cold. Only when walking do they project an air of bustle and purpose.

Penguins aren’t the most adventurous creatures. They stick to established paths and attempt to walk right through you when you’re in the way. You could hardly get closer to any other wild animal, which is another reason for their lasting impact.

One of our last penguin sightings is at St Andrews Bay. The king penguin rookery here, the largest in South Georgia, might well comprise half a million birds. It’s one of the most amazing wildlife encounters you’ll ever experience, and one of the most amazing stinks.

THE DETAILS

The Greg Mortimer – and the penguins – at Salisbury Plain in South Georgia.Credit: Tyson Mayr

CRUISE
Aurora Expeditions visits the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia on several itineraries that also take in the Falkland Islands. For example, a 23-day Antarctica Complete journey, with departures on December 20, 2025 and December 17, 2026, costs from $US32,486 a person ($50,640) including all shore excursions and Zodiac expeditions. See aurora-expeditions.com

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The writer travelled as a guest of Aurora Expeditions.