Chinstrap Penguins.

Photo credit to: National Geographic

So, I'm going to write a quick bio about my favorite species of penguins, the Chinstrap Penguin. Chinstrap Penguins got them name from the black strip under their heads that make it seem like they're wearing chin-strapped helmets but their scientific name is Psygoscelis Antartica. Chinstraps mostly live in colonies located at the South Sandwich Island of the Antarctic. They are considered near shore feeders and they primarily prey on krill while their main hunter is the leopard seal. Chinstraps are one of the more aggressive species and they are prone to kleptomania in regards of stealing stones from others' nests. Female chinstrap penguins lay 2 eggs at a time and the parents take turn keeping the eggs warm. Two well known Chinstrap Penguins are Roy and Silo of Central Park Zoo. They are homosexual who raised another couple's chick; they are the protagonists of the book And Tango Makes Three.

Homosexual Penguins.

The topic for today is: Homosexuality in Penguins.

The reason I'm writing about this is because Toronto Zoo is separating a same-sex penguin couple due to mating purposes. [Story url: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1085094--same-sex-penguins-must-separate-soon?bn=1 ]

Homosexual behavior has been documented by zoos about many animals but penguin homosexuality has reached fame after the news story about the two male chinstrap penguins in Central Park Zoo broke out. The two male penguins were witnessed to trying to hatch a makeshift egg from stone, witnessing this the zoo keepers decided to give the couple a real egg from a heterosexual couple who had trouble hatching their egg before. The heartwarming book, And Tango Makes Three was created from this the story.

Apart from New York other zoos in Japan and Germany have documented such events. Studies Germany have shown that even though they tried separating the penguins for mating purposes, but the bond was too strong between the homosexual males and the process failed. Now the Toronto is trying to do the same thing. They are trying to separate the two males because the they are Africans Penguins, which is part endangered species list. So my question to you readers is: Do you think it's right for them to be separated? Should "love" be split up because of practical reasons?

Blog so far.

So we have a new assignment and it's to assess our blogs so far...

My strongest post I think was my first one--grammatically at least. But, I feel like that one doesn't really reflect my blogging style. I like the conversational tone better, y'know? [see what I did there haha]

My weakest post I believe is my last one. It had a lot of typos since I used my phone to type it out during the Orchestra Concert. I know I've been lacking on this blog assignment, so to make it better I'm going to spend more time on it. :)

Writing in general: I think I really need to work on my run-on sentences. I know what they are but, I can't seem to stop writing them.

Things I'm going to add to my blog: I really need to explain penguin prostitution. All the questions I get are mainly about that topic. I'm also going to be adding more pictures and more facts about penguins. Maybe even an occasional update on the Hockey team the Pittsburgh Penguins [by the way, they just whooped the NY Islanders]


That's basically all my thoughts on my blog. It's certainly lacking, but I'll try to spend more time on it to build it up.

Halloween concert

So this post is again not really relate to penguin behaviour or anything but the next one should be.. Still waiting on the penguin prostitution paper. Instead I'm gonna just show you guys a picture of my costume. Every year my school has a Halloween Concert and the musicians dress up so I decided to be of course a penguin :) its not scary but then isn't Halloween nowadays about being what you want to be anyway? Anywho thats why theres a picture of me in a penguin suit on here. :) What are you guys going to be for Halloweeen?

Penguin Dreams

Well, I'm sad to say I still haven't taken any pictures --I will take them over the weekend-- and I haven't gotten my original paper blog back, so I'll just talk about the dream that inspired me for my concentration in AP Art.

My dream was about penguins taking over the world. This dream was probably fueled by my recent watching of the movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" mixed in with my penguin fanaticism. So, like in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" my dream took place in San Francisco. The dream started off in SF Zoo and I was by the penguin exhibit across from the Lion Cages, when suddenly large Godzilla sized penguins started to appear. It wasn't an organized take-over, but the dream made me start thinking.

I've been mulling over the topic of my concentration, and this dream inspired me. Now, I'm planning to make photo-manipulations of penguins ruling the world in a what-if scenario. My teacher still disagrees with me about this topic, but I'm atleast going to try

Comments Reply

So, this post is basically going to respond to all the comments from my first post, but first I'd like to explain the picture on the left. It's Wheezy from the movie Toys Story, [on a side note: R.I.P Steve Jobs] my badminton coach and friend Andre "Andrizzle" Alvarez gave it to me. :) Last year I used to always bring a stuffed penguin, a penguin hat, and sometimes even penguin socks to all the games. Anyway, thanks Andre. :)

One of the first things I'd like to address is the many comments asking for pictures of penguins, and I do promise to put some up here, but not until I get to go to the zoo. I'm not really fond of putting pictures that aren't mine on a blog, since I don't want to step on anyone's toes with photo credits and such. Don't worry though I plan on going to the zoo soon, since I need to start my AP Art concentration that involves penguins. [My AP Art teacher, doesn't think it's a smart idea, but it all came to me in a dream so I'll roll with it]

Another thing is Jobel's comment questioning their accepting nature. It really depends on their breed for example the Adelie are the most territorial out of all the species but they're still very social [They only become aggressive if you slight them like if you try to take their stones, which basically act as penguin currency]. Penguins unlike other birds are more social than colonial. They are very friendly to humans since they don't see us as a threat. Penguins usually go up to people who visit the Antarctic regions due to curiosity. That's why I consider them accepting but then again maybe I chose the wrong word.

Next, I'd like to address all the questions about Penguin Prostitution, and I'm sorry to say I won't be explaining it in this post. I'm still waiting for my Yearbook adviser to pass back the papers so I can show you guys the original post that started it all.

Also, one of my best friends Terilyn Chen told me that penguins are not monochromatic since they have three colors: black, white, and orange/yellow. In response to that I say that not all species have three colors, and that they are mainly black and white. Their are some species that are all black and white such as the Adelie and the Chinstrap, oh and yes black and white makes you monochromatic since it's a gray scale.

Finally, thanks to everyone for not finding my fascination with penguins weird. Though I'm facing some disapproval toward my penguin fixation, [*ehem* my AP Art teacher *ehem*] I'll never give in, I'll always brandish my love for penguins.

-'Til next time,
Max


Random Penguin Fact: Penguins are the official mascot of the Libertarian Party in the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, Utah, Hawaii, Delaware and Iowa. The mascot is dubbed the "Liberty Penguin

Penguins and Me.

Many might find the contents of this blog odd to say the least, but there's perfectly logical reason for a blog to be dedicated to the penguin race. The reason being that they're amazing; with their spiffy suits and accepting nature, they deserve an online shrine.

What started out as an assignment turned into an actual blog. The yearbook adviser in my school, told the staff [which includes me] to write a paper blog about something they're passionate about, and the topic I chose was Penguin Prostitution. After that we turned our paper blog into a real blog and that's what you're currently looking at.

Though some may find my love for penguins, fanatical, creepy, and unhealthy. I believe it's normal, and if not well at least now, I have a new medium to channel my love for penguins, other than talking everyone's ear off about the awesomeness of the penguin race.