Adelie Penguins of Paulet Island, Antarctica

Paulet Island, located near the Antarctic Peninsula in the northwest Weddell Sea, is home to more than 100,000 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins. The island is a small circular volcanic cone, about one mile in diameter with rocky slopes rising more than 1,100 feet above the shoreline. Cobble beaches are favorite napping locations for Weddell seals, which you'll see in this video. Adelie penguins pop in and out of the surf as they return to shore throughout the day. They spend some time drying off and preening on the upper beaches before making their way to the nesting locations. In some cases, this is a rather difficult journey over loose scree slopes to the uppermost ledges of the volcanic cone.

Snow fields are used by the penguins to travel back and forth from a freshwater lake at the center of the island. This lake was once used by members of Dr. Otto Nordenskjold's 1901-1904 Swedish Antarctic Expedition to survive being stranded on the island. A stone hut and burial marker remain today, but the hut is now prime roosting territory for Adelie penguins.

The Tennessee Aquarium members recently explored Antarctica with a seasoned Abercrombie & Kent expedition team and Dr. James McClintock, Endowed University Professor of Polar and Marine Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. One of the many stops was at Palmer Long Term Ecological Research Station where Dr. McClintock studies marine species. Learn more about the Tennessee Aquarium, located in downtown Chattanooga, at http://www.tnaqua.org/Home.aspx