A wildlife photographer says he believes he photographed an unprecedented yellow penguin off the Antarctic coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
The rare species was clearly distinguished from its black and white companions, photographer Yves Adams shows. The 43-year-old was leading a two-month expedition to Antarctica and the South Atlantic in December when he stopped in the remote islands of South Georgia.
As he pulled out his camera he spotted the unusual bird among the approximately 120,000 penguins of the Salisbury Plain colony.
The yellow penguin is reported to be in a ‘leucistic’ state – causing partial loss of pigmentation in animals. Yves, from Ghent, Belgium, described the experience as unique.
“I have never seen a yellow penguin before. “There were about 120,000 birds on that beach and only one was yellow.”
Yves further explains: “From his leukiostatic state, his cells do not produce melanin so the normally black feathers turn yellow or milky. We all got excited when we saw him, left everything and took the cameras. “We were lucky that the bird was sitting next to us and the view was not blocked by the sea or by larger animals.”
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