King penguin travels thousands of kilometers to visit Ukraine's Antarctic research station
According to scientists, this is the second unexpected visitor spotted near Vernadsky Station in a row. Earlier, Ukrainian polar researchers recorded the appearance of an emperor penguin, and now a king penguin has also paid them a visit.
King penguins do not normally inhabit the area around Akademik Vernadsky Station. While emperor penguins prefer the colder regions of Antarctica, king penguins live on sub-Antarctic islands, where the climate is milder than in the vicinity of the Ukrainian station.
According to various estimates, the global population of king penguins numbers between 1.6 and 2.2 million breeding pairs. Unlike emperor penguins, this species is classified as being of least concern in terms of conservation status.
The unusual visitor on Galindez Island, where the Akademik Vernadsky Station is located, was spotted by Kyrylo Sulima, a biologist with the 31st Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition. At the time, he was working near Penguin Point, a cape situated on the opposite side of the island from the station.
"The king penguin was standing near a group of our regular residents — gentoo penguins — keeping somewhat apart, but not straying too far away.
What caught my attention were the scars from healed wounds on its back and belly. They clearly testified to the difficult lives of king penguins, which are hunted by leopard seals and killer whales," Sulima said.
Like the previous emperor penguin visitor, the king penguin stayed on Galindez Island for about a day before continuing on its journey.
The National Antarctic Scientific Center jokingly suggested that such attention from these "royal" penguins to Vernadsky Station might be connected to the preparations of the 31st Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition team for Midwinter, the main holiday celebrated by Antarctic researchers.
At the same time, the scientists shared several interesting facts about king penguins:
Another distinctive feature of the species is its exceptionally long breeding cycle. From the moment an egg is laid until a chick becomes fully feathered, it takes 14 to 16 months. Throughout this entire period, the parents care for their offspring, which is why they usually begin their next breeding cycle later than many other penguin species.
As previously reported, researchers in Antarctica recorded a rare fur seal with cream-colored fur, a condition caused by leucism, a genetic form of partial loss of pigmentation.
In addition, members of the 31st Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition documented their first close encounter with humpback whales near Petermann Island, where the animals displayed characteristic behavior and were observed exhaling through the blowhole located on top of their heads.
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24 of June 2026
