Baby penguins cuddle at Hannah Point, on Antarctica's Livingston Island

August 1, 2018 at 6:39PM
Hannah Point, Antarctica
Hannah Point, Antarctica (Tom Horgen/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

THE Traveler: Alison Spencer of Wayzata.

The scene: Relative newcomers to a colony of hundreds, these two baby penguins huddled together at Hannah Point, on the south coast of Livingston Island, Antarctica.

Destination: Hannah Point is a popular stop for cruises in Antarctica. "You quite literally stand amidst hundreds and hundreds of penguins, their incessant chatter and distinct scent completely overwhelming you. Chicks of all sizes waddle about, following their parents or each other, often looking to be fed. Southern elephant seals also lay lazily about, periodically yawning or loudly snoring. It was truly a high point of the entire two-week Antarctic adventure," Spencer wrote in an e-mail.

The shot: Spencer snapped at least 200 photos before she happened upon these huddled youngsters. She used a Canon Rebel with a Canon EF 70-300 mm lens. "So much of Antarctic photography, especially when capturing wildlife, boils down to being at the right place at the right time, and I count myself lucky for arriving at the scene exactly when I did. Moments earlier or later who's to say where these babies would have been or what they would have been doing," Spencer wrote.

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about the writer