I had a laminated poster in my lab of emperor, I think, penguins crossing a small ice shelf in the half light towards their rookery. I had sub-titled it 'When the going gets tough the tough get going'. I had hoped that this would provide some inspiration to those slothful students that passed through from time to time! So, it was with some anticipation that I came down to Antarctica to, among other things, see the real thing. The first penguins we saw in any numbers were gentoos and I think that Bernard Stonehouse may have had them in mind when he wrote: "I have often had the impression that, to penguins, man is just another penguin - different, less predictable, occasionally violent, but tolerable company when he sits still and minds his own business."
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