The jackass penguins live just south of Cape Town.
It looks like a fun place to live.
When they are born they stay warm and safe under Mom’s feet.
They are fluffy and cute.
And cuddly.
And loud when they are hungry. The noise doesn’t sound much like a donkey, but that’s where they got their name.
When they get bigger they are tubby fluffballs.
They still spend a lot of time lying around.
All sprawled out in the sand.
Pretending they can fly.
They are so cute.
So fluffy and cute.
But they are still loud when they were hungry.
Very loud.
When they get older they loose their fluffball feathers and become blue.
The loose feathers itch and they spend a lot of time scratching.
Then they are teenagers.
And slightly less cute.
They moult every year, loosing a ton of feathers every time. Eventually they become black and white adults.
The leftover feathers look funny.
They can’t fish while they are moulting, so they get very hungry.
They can’t swim well and get cold because they are not properly waterproofed.
But they still wade in, presumably to cool off.
They pick most of the loose feathers out with their beaks.
The adults are not at all fluffy.
They march in groups down to the water.
And wade in.
Until it gets too deep to wade.
Then they swim.
When they are not swimming the spend a lot of time standing around looking displeased.
Or staring at things.
