We've been cruising up the east coast of South America and stopped to visit Punta Tombo that has the largest penguin rookery in South America. The whole area is quite windy but I don't think the Penguins really care.
There are literally thousands of penguins that make this yearly trek to Punto Tombo for mating. They are monogamous, returning to the same nest every year with the same partner for life (about 25 years).
They get together for mating in this specific area of South America once a year. And believe it or not, they don't necessarily come together in pairs. How do they meet up? The birds actually call out (sounds a bit like a donkey call) and even with over 200,000 Penguins here to mate, they somehow find each other!
They use their same nest every year.
What we saw today were only the adult birds as the young have already hatched and migrated away last month. The adults are now shedding their feathers- a process called molting- and this is done after breeding and after the young are gone.
You can see that some of the Penguins have done the molting and others haven't.
The rookery itself is quite stunning.
About 20 years ago, a family who owned this land, 210 hectares, gave the property to the Argentine government to ensure the rookery would be properly maintained and protected. There are walkways that you must use but I must say you don't notice any restrictions as the Penguins walk freely across the roped areas. it was terrific to be able to see this rookery.
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