After downloading the Antarctica and Southern Ocean bird list on Jude’s Merlin app, we realised we would be able to see eight species of penguins, as our voyage included the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, as well as the Antarctic peninsula, but only if we were going to be extremely lucky as some of them are not often seen on these trips. When it comes to penguin species, there are considered to be 18 species in the world, and we had already seen three species before (the little penguin in Australia, the African penguin in South Africa and the yellow-eyed penguin in New Zealand). So to have the chance to see another eight species was incredible and we were very excited.

The eight species of penguin we would be looking for were: king, emperor, adelie, gentoo, chinstrap, magellanic, macaroni, and the southern rockhopper. And our trip started really well with the first species already spotted as we were leaving Ushuia – the magellenic penguin.

It was amazing to sail through the Beagle Channel where we spotted the magellenic penguins from a distance. We saw some swimming, and several could be seen on land. Calm water in the Channel meant an easy introduction to living on a ship for the next 19 days. We were enjoying the scenery and bird life from the outside deck, which made it difficult to head inside for dinner. But dinner was an amazing affair too. Every night it was a-la-carte dining and you could indulge in a 4-course dinner if you wanted, served with your choice of wine of course.

magellenic penguins swimming in the Beagle Channel

Jon having a starter on the Seaventure somewhere in the Falkland Islands

After exiting the Beagle Channel we spent our first night in our exquisite (and heavily-discounted) room with a balcony and our own private bathroom. We slept very well. The next day we didn’t see land at all, but after a second night at sea, we saw impressive peaks and a lot of birds when we woke up early the next morning. It was the start of 2025 and we were arriving on the north-western side of the Falkland Islands where we were heading for Westpoint. This is the site of an albatross rookery, but in the same area there were also many southern rockhoppers breeding. Our second penguin species! There were plenty of rockhopper chicks too and we could see where they get there name from. It is incredible how they hop from rock to rock to get from sea-level all the way up to the rookery to breed and feed their young.

a southern rockhopper penguin at Westpoint, Falkland Islands

At Carcass Island later the same day in the Falkland Islands, we added yet another species, our third penguin species of the trip, as this island has two small gentoo rookeries near the bay where we landed. There are also several magellanic penguins breeding on the island so we got a much better look at them as well. It was also nice to stretch our legs a bit here as we could walk across the bay to a small settlement where the zodiacs would pick us up again to ferry us back to the ship. We made the most of that opportunity and enjoyed our hike, discovering many other birds and wildlife along the way.

Jon approaching the gentoo rookery on Carcass Island, Falkland Islands

a clean gentoo calling for his mate, when they are clean they have just returned from the sea

We then had to wait a few days before we could add our next species – the king penguin. We reckon it is the most handsome of all the penguins. Very stately, tall and colourful with their yellow-orange patches. And they were also very inquisitive as we would soon find out. Our first zodiac cruise after two full sea days (when you don’t see any land) was in Salisbury Plain. We were meant to land there at one of the largest king penguin rookeries in the world, but unfortunately there were too many dead seals due to the bird flu and the crew was unable to find a suitable landing spot. We were quite disappointed, but then we were greeted by the hundreds of king penguins and seals swimming in the sheltered bay as we approached in the zodiacs. We were checking them out as much as they were investigating us, many of the king penguins and seals came towards the zodiacs and even swam with us as we were cruising. It was a feast for the eyes and we didn’t know where to look, especially as the scenery was dramatic and impressive too.

the scenery and wildlife at Salisbury Plain (South Georgia) was absolutely amazing

King penguins as far as the eye could see at St Andrews, estimated to be home for 60,000 king penguins

For a long time the fifth species was only seen by a handful of dedicated birders who were out on deck all the time. We often spotted penguins swimming, floating and porpoising near the ship, and quite a few times we were able to recognise the macaroni penguins. It certainly helped to have a legendary bird guide on board (Michael), as well as several other brilliant bird guides and enthusiasts (Mark, Paul, Louise, Jason, Kathy and others). Without them we certainly would not have seen as much as we did.

a macaroni penguin porpoising in Alfsford Bay, South Georgia

But then, instead of doing the last section of Shackleton’s hike into Grytviken (too windy to land), we visited a macaroni colony further out. That meant everyone on board had now also seen this super cute looking penguin. We were doing incredibly well to have already spotted five species of penguin.

a small colony of macaroni penguins in Alsford Bay, South Georgia

macaroni penguin looking very cute

It was again the birders including Jude who spotted the first chinstraps, our sixth penguin species. There were two icebergs as we were sailing into Alsford Bay. Both had some penguins on them, one of them a bunch of chinstraps! They look super cute with their black thin line on their chin. Later, when cruising with the zodiacs in Gold Harbour we all saw a lone chinstrap standing on top of a rock. We also saw a leucistic gentoo on the beach, he looked rather funky and very blond amongst his fellow ‘standard’ gentoos. We did see plenty more chinstraps up and close at their shared rookery at Hannah Point in the Antarctica area later in the trip (gentoos also nest there). There we even watched one chinstrap penguin steal a rock from a nest and carry it over to his own nest built of stones. Many chinstraps seemed to have twins which was very interesting to see as all the other penguins seemed to mostly have one chick.

a lone chinstrap penguin on top of rocks in Gold Harbour, South Georgia

a chinstrap penguin carrying a rock to his nest

many chinstrap penguins had two chicks in the nest at Hannah Point in the South Shetlands

a leucistic gentoo penguin next to a ‘normal’ gentoo penguin at Gold Harbour (South Georgia)

Then, early one morning, with only a few birders and Jon on the back deck (luckily Jon had come outside early that day), Michael called out – adelie! He had spotted one single adelie penguin standing on a small floating ice-shelf. We were all super excited and enjoyed watching this tiny, lone adelie penguin taking centre stage on his small white patch in the middle of the ocean. We were lucky, even though the ship came quite close, our little penguin stayed put. Thanks Michael, that was the seventh species of penguin spotted for those who were on deck that early. Unfortunately for the rest of the people on board, no other adelie penguins were spotted on our journey.

a lone adelie penguin centre stage on a floating ice shelf

And yes, we also saw the eight penguin species! The mighty emperor penguin. This was the most unlikely species of the eight as their rookeries are far inland on the ice. They are the ones where the male famously balances the egg on his feet and under a belly flap, all huddled together in the polar storms. At best, we could hope for a young emperor chilling on the ice somewhere, one too young to take part in the breeding cycle. But not only did we see a young emperor penguin on an ice shelf, there was an adult with him too. Unbelievable. We all saw them from the ship, but when we went cruising with the zodiacs and kayaks, we all had a much closer look at them. The adult even came to check us out too as we were watching from the edge of the ice. He walked all the way towards us, some of it sliding on his belly. Super cute, and so lucky for us!

We now had a full house of all the penguins we could see on our trip, how super special! Which one is your favourite?

in Wilhelmina Bay we spotted two emperor penguins, super special and very lucky

the adult emperor penguin was very curious

emperor penguin about to flop down on his belly