SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND: A melanistic king penguin at Fortuna Harbor on South Georgia Island.This playful black penguin stands out from the crowd on the island of South Georgia. Wildlife photographer Michael Nolan travelled to the Antarctic to capture the penguin breeding colonies when he came across the rare male. The penguin came inquisitively out of the ocean and up to Michael's feet, before returning to its chick (surrounded by other "okum" boy chicks) to feed it. These 'black' penguins are known as melanistic penguins and are incredibly rare (1 in every 100,000). Their colour is caused by a loss of pigmentation patterns in their features. s01474 />
|
