Gentoo Penguins

Gentoo penguins have an elegant white strap that runs across their heads from one eye to the other and are widely dispersed around the islands.

The Gentoo Penguins are the most numerous of all penguin species in Antarctica and can reach a height of 36 inches and weighing up to 19 pounds - making them the largest penguins outside of the two giant species, the Emperor Penguin and the King Penguin. They are the fastest swimmers reaching speeds of up to 36 km/hr. There are over 300,000 breeding pairs in Antarctica. Nests are usually made fro a roughly circular pile of stones and can be quite large, 20 cm high and 25 cm in diameter. Two eggs are laid, both weighting around 500 grams each. The parents share incubation, changing duty daily. They eggs hatch after 35 days with the chicks remaining in the nests or about 30 days. The chicks molt into sub-adult plumage and go out to sea at about 80-100 days. Gentoos live mainly on crustaceans such as krill, on fish and squid. Their call is reminiscent of the sound of a donkey’s “he-haw.”