raulagrait's Favorites

I see lots of shots of animal tracks posted on iNat, but save for a raccoon or a few other simple ones, I claim no knowledge or expertise in tracks in the snow, mud, etc. But I thought tracks of Emperor Penguin in soft snow might add a different critter to the tracks repertoire! Image 3 shows the culprits making the tracks! We watched this daily for 8 or 10 days on that trip to the Ross Sea in 2001. The track in image 1 is made by a single individual. When there are multiple birds in a line (and they often travel 2 to 25 or more in single file in the same rut), those marks on the side of the rut where their flippers propel them along get very obscure from multiple flippers.

When on rocks and gravel or a thin snow cover, Emperors walk upright. But when in loose snow, or they want to speed up, they flop down on their bellies and "take off" propelling themselves along with their rear feet as well as their flippers. Under many circumstances they can move a good bit faster than a person is able to. Emperors are 3 feet tall and large ones can weigh 70+ pounds.

Emperor Penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri
Cape Washington,
Ross Sea
Antarctica
4 December 2001

these images scanned from 35mm slides

Location: Cape Washington, Ross Sea, ... (Google, OSM)
Places: AQ, AQ, Antarctica More...
Lat -74.5248, Lon 165.1697
Accuracy: 1000m

New one to me! This crazy nudibranch was not teeny -- about 1" long. Cream body with brown speckling and cool yellow lines. Large foot. Rows of gills like Dendronotus? Oral tentacles flicked up and down like a cockatoo's crest. BUT THE WEIRDEST THING were these crazy long flowing 'streamers' coming from the top of each rhinophore sheath - kind of looked like worms, though clearly attached and marked like the rest of the body (cream with brown specks). Found on Tubularia. Invasive? Video: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30314434@N06/25521619833/in/dateposted/

Calling out the big guns for help: @tgosliner @mcduck @rebeccafay @sluglust @kestrel @kueda

UPDATE 5/16/2016: Here's the very nice video that the California Academy of Sciences created about this guy: https://www.facebook.com/calacademy/videos/10154157032862311/