ACS Monterey Bay Program for June 2008

Penguins of the World

Everyone sees penguins in a different way. As ocean adventurers, exceptional divers and amazing survivors, penguins have managed to adapt to the harshest climates on earth, spending their lives in frigid seas and on ice and snow-covered slopes and even nesting on the Galapagos Islands.

Debra Shearwater will discuss, using spectacular photographs, every species of penguin in the world, such as Emperors, Kings, Gentoos, Rockhoppers, Chinstraps, Adelies, Galapagos, Macaronis, Royal and little Blue. There are18 species in all. Debra has traveled to all of the world's penguin breeding areas, save one, that of the South African Penguin which she plans to see on a voyage scheduled for 2009.

Debra's experience is far reaching. In 1976 she established Shearwater Journeys, a company which offered one day pelagic trips from California. After sharing the natural wonders of Monterey Bay with some 50,000 visitors, Debra still found a way to visit the seven continents on the planet, experiencing nature's wonders around the world. She co-produced a popular DVD, THROUGH THE SEASONS: An Introduction to the Seabirds and Marine Mammals of Monterey Bay, authored several popular articles about seabirds, worked on a radio tagging program for Blue Whales and participated in several studies of various dolphin species.

Additionally, Debra is a very special guest to our Chapter Monthly Meeting. When this Chapter was founded in 1980 Debra was there. She was a "founder" and charter member and the first to make a monetary donation to our Chapter.

Please join us for what promises to be an interesting journey into the world of the Penguin.


Related web pages:

• Birding the Ends of the Earth - by Debra Shearwater
• Shearwater Journeys

• Back to list of previous meetings.