The Rockhoppers of Tristan da Cunha

Nightingale Island

Nightingale Island is an active volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, 3 km² in area, part of the Tristan da Cunha group of islands. They are administered by the United Kingdom as part of the overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Nightingale Island is part of the Nightingale Islands, which also includes islets Middle Island and Stoltenhoff Island. All three are uninhabited, but are regularly visited for scientific purposes and research. Nightingale has two peaks on its north end. One is 337 metres (1,106 ft) high while the other is 293 metres (961 ft) high. The rest of the island is ringed by cliffs. However, these cliffs are not nearly as high as those surrounding Nightingale's neighbour Inaccessible Island, which is approximately 16 km away and has cliffs approximately 300m high. Thus human access is much easier on Nightingale than on Inaccessible. The island is a volcano, composed of early and late stage ash deposits. Massive Trachytic lava flows have been extruded in the past. Prior to 2004, the last eruption may have been over 39,000 years ago. Caves in Nightingale Island seem to indicate elevation. The two nearby islets are called Stoltenhoff (99 m) and Middle (46 m).  Large amounts of kelp surround the island, which makes it difficult to anchor ships in bad weather.

Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha is both a remote group of volcanic islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) from nearest inhabited land, Saint Helena,  2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) from the nearest continental land, South Africa,  and 3,360 kilometres (2,090 mi) from South America. The territory consists of the main island, also named Tristan da Cunha, which has a north-south length of 11.27 kilometres (7.00 mi) and has an area of 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi), along with the smaller, uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible and Gough Islands. Tristan da Cunha is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.  This includes Saint Helena and equatorial Ascension Island some 3,730 kilometres (2,318 mi) to the north of Tristan. The island has a permanent population of 297.

The Rockhoppers Penguin

Rockhopper penguins are one of the smallest species of penguin in the world. They range from 2.3-2.7 kg where males are larger than females. After reaching full growth they are about 20 inches in height.  Males and females cannot be distinguished just by looks, a DNA test is conducted by taking a feather from the bird to determine its gender.  Like many penguins rockhopper penguins have a white belly and the rest of their body is black.  Some characteristics that differentiate them from the other penguins are their red eyes, orange beak, pink webbed feet, and yellow and black spiky feathers that they have on their head.  Although their yellow and black spiky feathers differentiate them from other penguins, as chicks rockhopper penguins do not have them; the feathers develop with age.  Also their orange beak is initially black, as the penguins get older their beaks turn orange.  Due to the harsh rocky environment they cannot slide on their bellies like most penguins, so they hop to get from one place to another.