The first penguin chick of the season was born near the Akademik Vernadsky station

Over the weekend of November 29 and 30, the first penguin chick of the season was born near the Akademik Vernadsky Antarctic Station.

This is stated in a message from the Akademik Vernadsky station.

Polar scientists say the chick hatched quite early — in previous years, this happened only in mid-December. In general, this year, penguins began arriving en masse on Galindez Island and building nests there quite early.

Subantarctic penguin chicks hatch asynchronously — as the eggs were laid. At first, the chicks are covered with gray down, which thickens and changes color over time. And about a month after birth, they begin to molt and replace the down with feathers.

This season, a record 7,000 subantarctic penguins live on Galindez. Ukrainian biologists have counted 2,300 nests with eggs, so they expect a penguin baby boom around Vernadsky in the near future.

• There are 18 species of penguins on the planet, five of which live in Antarctica, and three nest directly near the Akademik Vernadsky Station. These are the subantarctic penguin, the antarctic penguin, and the Adélie penguin. They are similar in that they begin their breeding season in the Antarctic spring and build nests of stones. Both partners take turns incubating the eggs, and then care for and feed the chicks.

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