The next in a series of “It’s not just penguins” blogs! (Remember the Skuas? They’ll get another blog post no doubt, they’re so gorgeous). Antarctic Shags go by a number of names because they’re part of the big unresolved taxanomic group of Phalacrocorax atriceps that also includes Imperial Shags, and sub-species from sub-Antarctic Islands such as South Georgia and Macquarie. Other names for them are Blue-eyed Shag, or Cormorant, depending on where you’re from. And they do have gorgeous blue eyes!

Just because they live somewhere as glorious and majestic as Antarctica, doesn’t mean they don’t have to face the daily grind that any other shag would. Returning home to a gaggle of muddy, hungry chicks seems pretty universal in the shag world, although the Antarctic ones sometimes share their colonies with penguins!

Petermann Island was a good place to photograph a colony with chicks, but Paradise Bay was the best place for getting flight shots.  Their colony was high up on a sheer cliff, and they were foraging in the waters where we cruised in Zodiacs. Shooting low to the water was great for lift-off shots, and from the Observation deck of the ship gave great rock-texture backgrounds.

Shags dive to catch their prey – a variety of small marine life including fish and krill. Antarctic Shags have the toughest time of it – diving into freezing water to depths of up to 100m to feed! That’s pretty impressive.