National Geographic Orion braved stormy seas to reach the remote Australian outpost of Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean. Upon our arrival we were greeted by thousands of king penguins who swarmed the vessel in search of prey. A few hours later we boarded the Zodiacs for a wave-swept adventure onto the volcanic shores of Sandy Bay. Our welcome committee included the world’s largest pinniped, the southern elephant seal. Eight-thousand-pound “Beach Masters” battled for territorial supremacy while wide-eyed pups (called weaners) stared innocently at their bipedal visitors.
The premier attraction of the beach, however, are the penguin colonies. The king penguin and endemic royal penguin call Macquarie Island their terrestrial home. Waddling through a maze of elephant seals, the penguins find their way from their comfortable roost to the frigid seas in search of fish and squid.
After a full day of fun on land, sea, and Zodiac, we retreated to the amenities of National Geographic Orion. A call over the loudspeaker alerted us to a resident pod of type A killer whales. The assemblage crossed our bow in a final farewell to the memories of Macquarie Island.
