\n>>
\n
>> \ufeffDear PenguinPromises
\n
>>
\n
>> The penguins have left Brazil and Promises will now be swimming back home towards
\n
>> the colony. After weeks in Brazil, Promises will arrive home a lot plumper than
\n
>> when leaving the colony earlier this year, skinny after the annual moult. Just
\n
>> as well because the penguins will arrive home to begin a new season of raising
\n
>> chicks, so they need to be in good condition.
\n
>>
\n
>> The penguins remain in sight of the coast as they swim home, and even use the
\n
>> coastline to guide them. When the coastline is on the right-hand side Promises
\n
>> can be sure of swimming in the right direction, which is always south. It is
\n
>> an interesting coastline with lovely sandy beaches, amazing cliffs, a few large
\n
>> cities, and lots and lots of lighthouses.
\n
>>
\n
>> Many of these lighthouses are built on remote islands away from the coast, or
\n
>> on spectacular cliffs and headlands overlooking the ocean. Each lighthouse has
\n
>> its own unique sequence of flashes so that ships know which lighthouse it is.
\n
>> The lighthouses are over 100 years old, but even today with radar and GPS, these
\n
>> lighthouses are still important for marine navigation.
\n
>>
\n
>> I attach a photo showing penguins beside one of the lighthouses that they pass
\n
>> by on their way home. This unmanned lighthouse is situated on a remote uninhabited
\n
>> island 25 miles off the coast of Puerto Deseado in Argentina. The abandoned lighthouse
\n
>> is the only building on the island. It used to be manned, and was built with
\n
>> a red brick house attached to the tower for the lighthouse keepers to live in.
\n
>> That house is now abandoned and used by nesting penguins, as you can see in the
\n
>> second photo. Solar panels charge batteries that now power the light throughout
\n
>> the night.
\n
>>
\n
>> The island is called “Isla Pinguino”, which is Spanish for “Penguin Island”.
\n
>> It is called that because the island is home to thousands of penguins. Many of
\n
>> the penguins swimming alongside Promises will end their journey here, because
\n
>> they have their nests on this island. Despite its name, Isla Pinguino is a very
\n
>> inhospitable place for Magellanic penguins.
\n
>>
\n
>> As you can see in the photo, Isla Pinguino has no bushes and not enough soil
\n
>> to make burrows. It is just rock. The penguins living here have to live sitting
\n
>> on the rocky surface, with no protection from the rain, wind and hot sunshine.
\n
>> It seems an unlikely place for Magellanic penguins to nest.
\n
>>
\n
>> Apart from being surrounded by waters that are rich in fish, Isla Pinguino does
\n
>> have the advantage of having no terrestrial predators. Being such a barren rock
\n
>> miles away from the mainland, there are no foxes or terrestrial predators of
\n
>> any kind living here. The only terrestrial mammals on the island are rats, which
\n
>> are too small to bother the penguins. There are also very few predatory birds
\n
>> on the island because the island has no food for them for much of the year when
\n
>> the penguins are away on migration. A lack of predation seems to be the main
\n
>> attraction for the penguins living here.
\n
>>
\n
>> In that respect Magellanic penguins are very adaptable about where they live.
\n
>> They prefer to live in burrows, but are equally at home nesting under a bush,
\n
>> in a rocky crevice, or even out in the open. At least the penguins on Isla Pinguino
\n
>> have no trouble finding their way home, with a flashing beacon over their nest
\n
>> to guide them home.
\n
>>
\n
>> We are now in early spring here in the south. The days are getting longer but
\n
>> it is still cold. Spring is also the time when the strong winds begin. Patagonia
\n
>> is famous for its strong winds, with Cape Horn being one of the most feared places
\n
>> on Earth for sailors. Of course penguins have no trouble swimming in even the
\n
>> roughest of seas.
\n
>>
\n
>> Penguins are very sociable and always travel together in large groups during
\n
>> their migration. However Promises cannot keep track of who is actually in the
\n
>> group. Out at sea the penguins like the company of other penguins, but do not
\n
>> keep in touch with individual penguins.
\n
>>
\n
>> When penguins raise their head out of the water, their eyes are only a few inches
\n
>> above the water, and the open ocean almost always has waves. So Promises can
\n
>> only see as far as the nearest wave, which is not very far. Every so often a
\n
>> wave will lift the penguins up and give them a quick glimpse of what is around
\n
>> them, before dropping them back down into the trough again. However that is not
\n
>> enough to identify individual penguins amongst all the other penguins, which
\n
>> at a distance all look the same, even to a penguin.
\n
>>
\n
>> So couples travel separately during the winter migration. Keeping in touch with
\n
>> a partner would be impossible. They would be separated the first time one of
\n
>> them went chasing after a fish, and finding each other again would be impossible
\n
>> amongst all the other penguins, and the waves. So partners travel separately
\n
>> in mixed groups and meet up again back at the nest in the spring.
\n
>>
\n
>> When the penguins get back to the colony they meet up again in their nest, because
\n
>> the nest is their only terrestrial home. Just like people always go back home
\n
>> after going anywhere, so too does Promises.
\n
>>
\n
>> Young penguins that are breeding for the first time do not have their own nest
\n
>> yet, and have to find a suitable place to make their nest. They often come across
\n
>> what they believe to be an ideal spot, unaware that it actually belongs to another
\n
>> penguin couple that has not yet returned home. When that happens, a squabble
\n
>> breaks out, and the returning owners of the nest quickly evict the squatter.
\n
>>
\n
>> Upon the return of Promises, the first task is to repair the nest and make it
\n
>> suitable for egg-laying. The eggs will then be laid a couple of weeks later,
\n
>> and once that has happened we will take a new photo of Promises to send you.
\n
>>
\n
>> In the meantime, if you have access to Netflix there is a wonderful series called
\n
>> Penguin Town which I am sure you will enjoy. Many of the activities and behavior
\n
>> that I write about regarding Promises are brought to life in great detail in
\n
>> this excellent series. The series is not too scientific, in fact it is a bit
\n
>> like a penguin soap-opera, following the lives of a few penguins in a story-like
\n
>> manner. The filming is absolutely superb, with lots of really close-up images,
\n
>> and is worth watching just for the quality of filming. If you don’t have Netflix,
\n
>> I expect that sooner or later the series will be available on other channels
\n
>> and media.
\n
>>
\n
>> The series follows African penguins, which are very similar to Promises. However
\n
>> Magellanic penguins take longer to reach maturity, live longer, and travel much
\n
>> further in search of food. So if you are watching the series, remember that some
\n
>> of the information will be different to Promises, even though the overall behavior
\n
>> and life-style is the same.
\n
>>
\n
>> I will write to you again as soon as the egg-laying has taken place, with an
\n
>> up-to-date photo of Promises.
\n
>>
\n
>> Kind regards, Mike
\n
>>
\n
>>
\n
>>
\n
>>
>> \n<\/penguins><\/penguin><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":">> >> \ufeffDear PenguinPromises >> >> The penguins have left Brazil and Promises will now be swimming back home towards >> the colony. After weeks in Brazil, Promises will arrive home a lot plumper than >> when leaving the colony earlier this year, skinny after the annual moult. Just >> as well because the penguins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11766],"tags":[5237,4238],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-147334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal","tag-penguin","tag-update"],"yoast_head":"\n
Penguin update - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Penguin update - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\">> >> \ufeffDear PenguinPromises >> >> The penguins have left Brazil and Promises will now be swimming back home towards >> the colony. After weeks in Brazil, Promises will arrive home a lot plumper than >> when leaving the colony earlier this year, skinny after the annual moult. Just >> as well because the penguins […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-21T08:30:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Penguin update\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-21T08:30:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334\"},\"wordCount\":1444,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Penguin\",\"Update\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Animal\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334\",\"name\":\"Penguin update - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-21T08:30:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Penguin update\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Penguin update - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Penguin update - Som2ny Network","og_description":">> >> \ufeffDear PenguinPromises >> >> The penguins have left Brazil and Promises will now be swimming back home towards >> the colony. After weeks in Brazil, Promises will arrive home a lot plumper than >> when leaving the colony earlier this year, skinny after the annual moult. Just >> as well because the penguins […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-03-21T08:30:24+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Penguin update","datePublished":"2025-03-21T08:30:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334"},"wordCount":1444,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Penguin","Update"],"articleSection":["Animal"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334","name":"Penguin update - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-21T08:30:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=147334#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Penguin update"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=147334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=147334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=147334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=147334"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=147334"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=147334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}