Banding together for protection can be a mixed blessing.
One penguin strays off the beaten track and the others invariably follow.
Now with desperate consequences.
Miraculously, many survive the fall only to face a new ordeal.
Giant petrels , the vultures of the seas.
This macaroni manages to make a beeline for the shore.
Around the corner, a large captive audience awaits the story of his survival.
Far safer to stay at the colony, even if the social agenda down there is a touch claustrophobic.
Residents must find a mate and breed all within the cramped confines of an extinct volcano before the summer ends.
In spite of the numbers, family ties still count.
Take for purposes of identification; Mr.
and Mrs. Macaroni, a faithful, loving couple who've staked out a room with a view at the top of the colony.
They have brothers, sisters and cousins and of course, many other unrelated neighbors.
Antarctic fur seals also migrate here for the summer, but their playfulness masks a less savory side.
For starters, fur seals turn their noses up at monogamy, a dominant male will take as many as 15 female partners.
Secondly, while the lumbering seals on land may seem innocuous enough, in the water they are a menace.
And penguins must take to the water to feed.
That includes Mr. Macaroni, joined by others for a good day's hunting at sea.
Before long, dozens more follow in their footsteps.
As for Mrs. Macaroni, she's molting and must stay dry.
The last hurdle before entry, bands of giant devilliere algae that stretch in the protected leeward side of the island.
Like dolphins , penguins porpoise through the water at high speed.
But conserve energy by lunging through the air too.
More like the birds they actually are.
The exposed windward side of Elephant Island offers an altogether different prospect.
For a second party of macaroni, entry proves a little more tricky but no less feasible.
Once in, it's plain sailing to join up with the Leeward Party,.
They're heading for an area called the Antarctic Convergence, where cold and warmer waters meet.
Changes in water temperature fuel the food chain, the oceans swarms with krill.
Now, the penguins evolutionary path makes sense.
The macaroni can dive up to 300 meters and hold their breath for 20 minutes to gorge themselves on their staple diet.
The entire population of 11 million macaroni consumes 600,000 tons of krill every year.
This is predation on a massive scale.