Blue
eyed shags are the only member of the cormorants to venture down into the
Antarctic proper. They are found particularly along the Scotia arc
islands and down the Antarctic peninsula, venturing as far as 68 degrees
south. They are characterized by the vivid eye colour and the orange /
yellow growth at the base of the beak that becomes particularly large and
bright during the breeding season.
They feed mainly on fish frequently
forming a "raft" made up of dozens or hundreds of birds that
repeatedly dive down onto the shoals below helping each other by panicking
the fish into having nowhere to go except into the beak of the next bird.
They are excellent divers with a recorded maximum dive of 116m. Once
underwater they use their powerful webbed feet to propel themselves.
I used to joke that blue eyed shags got their
name because they had a blue eye and you can smoke them - but
not enough people got the joke so I stopped.
Paul
Ward - Pentax equipment, 100mm lens, 35mm film, K64.
This picture may not be copied or used in any manner without
prior written permission.
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