Skuas: The Awesome Avian Jerks of the Southern Ocean

This Skua is a jerk:

Or at least he and the rest of his species (actually several species) do a pretty good job of playing the part. Skuas are big seabirds, closely related to gulls, and they are nasty predators. I made the images on this page on the hills above Stromness Harbor on South Georgia Island a few years ago during my last trip to the Southern Ocean. Skuas are not well liked by most visitors because, let’s face it they aren’t particularly cute, and they have a tendency to eat cute things: Penguin chicks for example. Twice I’ve had to scold clients for throwing rocks at Skuas. Their gruesome predatory behavior does not score them points with tourists.

Yet, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for these guys. They are exceedingly curious and fearless. They will approach disconcertingly close, as this one did. I had been laying down photographing the small colony of Gentoo Penguins in the background when a pair of these monsters landed a short distance away. Curious, or more likely, hoping I was dying so they could make a meal out of me, they approached. And then they approached closer. So close that this one actually pecked my camera’s lens. I was shooting wide, and snapped away during the whole encounter. This image, near the end of the series turned out to be one of my favorite images of the entire trip. 

I’ve been going through my image collection recently as I pull photos for an issue of Photographic Magazine that I’m writing and for lectures for an upcoming stint guiding on a cruise ship this spring. It’s been a fun little jaunt through memories of previous journeys and has given me an opportunity to revisit some old photos. You’ll likely see a few more reminiscing posts before I head south in March.

Here is another shot of one of these guys. Anybody want to make a guess how many cute little penguins have met their end in this bird’s beak? I don’t. But I sure do appreciate their tenacity.

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