Flightless, but resourceful

While gentoo penguins are native to the oceanic islands that speckle the sub-Antarctic, our photo subject is one of a sizeable population living on mainland Antarctica. Gentoo colonies on the icy continent are clustered at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, a bustling penguin metropolis shared with chinstrap, emperor, and Adélie penguins. Unfortunately, this part of Antarctica is warming faster than any part of the world besides the North Pole—threatening Adélies, for example, which mostly eat krill attracted to ice-borne algae. On the brighter side, gentoos are noted for their ability to change their habits, finding new food sources and breeding locations in response to climate change. This flexibility has helped them become the fastest—and only—growing population of penguins in the Antarctic region.