Emperor Penguins

Once you get to them emperor penguins are easy to photograph. After initial curiosity they largely ignore your presence and return to their usual behaviour; in this case a pair re-connecting after returning from fishing off the Ross Sea ice edge. I was totally entranced by the mimicking of their submissive curves and the extraordinary pink colour in their bills, the yellow on the neck and the black line running hard into the pure white.

We share the planet with an extraordinary and beautiful range of creatures that it always thrills me to meet in the wild. Our treatment of them is appalling and is my reason for being a vegetarian and sometime animal activist. I know that one day in the oncoming centuries we will find to understand their languages and it will enrich us deeply.

Taken on Nikon F.4. 135mm lens. Kodachrome 64. Aperture F11.