Volunteer Point

Beaches & CovesEast Falkland,Falkland Islands

A white-sand spit on East Falkland where almost every king penguin in the islands stands together, about 1,500 pairs on open sand with no fence.

September·Quiet month

Apr–Sep

Brown king chicks tough out winter, fasting to half their weight while parents fish at sea. The Magellanics have gone north, the cruise season is over, days are short and highs near 4°C. Only heavy rain, not the calendar, shuts the 4x4 track.

Year-round King penguins are on this beach in every month of the year. Their breeding cycle runs 14 to 16 months, so what changes is the stage the colony has reached.

Volunteer Point is a spit of white sand on the northeast coast of East Falkland. Almost every king penguin in the islands stands together on it — about 1,500 breeding pairs — on open ground with no fence and no boardwalk. There is no road in either: the last of the two-hour drive from Stanley is trackless bog and open camp. From the low ground above the beach the colony resolves into a dense mass of white fronts and orange collars packed shoulder to shoulder, with a steady trickle of birds arriving from the sea. The six-metre rule binds you and not them, so if you sit down and stay still, curious kings will walk over and inspect you. Paired birds stretch their necks skyward and call together, a brassy duet that lets each one pick its partner's voice out of thousands. They repeat it all day, entirely indifferent to whoever is standing a few metres off. The chicks are the other surprise. Hatched the previous summer, they stand almost as tall as the adults, wrapped in shaggy brown down and still begging to be fed, and they are usually the ones bold enough to come closest. Early observers wrote them up as a separate species, and nineteenth-century sealers called them oakum boys, after the teased, tarred rope fibre used to caulk ships. Because the breeding cycle is staggered, chicks are in the colony all year, so the two "species" were always seen side by side, which only hardened the mistake. From March they bunch into crèches and get through the southern winter by fasting on the beach while their parents hunt far out at sea, losing up to half their body weight. All day small parties shuttle between colony and water in single file, upright over pale sand streaked with green marram grass. Following them at a respectful distance takes you straight down to the surf. There they bunch up and hesitate, then commit in a rush through the breakers — and with sea lions working the shallows offshore, it is the one moment a king penguin looks fast.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Come dressed for peat bog — there is no road in; the last stretch is trackless bog and open camp, and heavy rain can close it entirely. Waterproof boots, not trainers.
Ask whether a cruise ship is in port — on ship days the colony fills with vehicles from late morning to mid-afternoon, so an early start buys you the beach almost to yourself.
Sit down and let them come to you — the six-metre rule binds you, not the penguins. Stay low and still, and curious kings will often walk right up to inspect you.
Bird flu has reached this colony — disinfect your boots as the wardens ask, never step between a penguin and its path to the sea, and report dead birds instead of approaching them.

Things to do

1
Watch a pair trumpet in unison
Paired kings stretch their necks skyward and call together, a brassy duet that lets each bird pick its partner's voice out of a colony of thousands. They repeat it through the day, entirely indifferent to whoever is standing a few metres away.
2
Meet the yearlings in their brown down
Chicks hatched the previous summer stand almost as tall as the adults, wrapped in shaggy brown down and still begging to be fed. They gather in loose crèches while their parents are at sea, and they are usually the birds bold enough to come closest to you.
3
See the whole king colony from the rise
From the low ground above the beach the shape of the colony resolves. It is a dense mass of white fronts and orange collars packed shoulder to shoulder, with a steady trickle of birds arriving from the sea to join it.
4
Follow a line of penguins over the dunes
Small parties shuttle between the colony and the water all day, walking upright in single file over pale sand streaked with green marram grass. Fall in behind at a respectful distance and they will lead you straight down to the surf. At the water's edge they bunch up and hesitate, then commit in a rush through the breakers — with sea lions working the shallows offshore, it is the one moment a king penguin looks fast.