Ice breakers and penguins

The ice breaker has been working the channel for the resupply ship to come in next month. All of this activity has brought adelie penguins to McMurdo. I have seen penguins here plenty of times before, but never like this. I estimated that I saw at least 100 penguins on the sea ice near McMurdo yesterday.
I wish I knew more about penguins. One thing I know is that they are fascinating to watch, especially when they are on the move. Yesterday there was a large group of them near Hut Point when the Swedish icebreaker, Oden, started moving up to the dock. The penguins were running across the sea ice as fast as their three inch legs would carry them. When they needed a change of pace, they would flop onto their bellies and toboggan along, pushing themselves with their feet and flippers. Most of them stopped on the ice on the sides of Hut Point. A few came onto land to check us out. The people here are curious about penguins and they seem curious about us too.
I saw the ice breaker coming in from across Winter Quarters Bay. I walked to Hut Point to get a closer look at the penguins. This year there have been many sightings of penguins near McMurdo. I think it may be that the foraging is easier than it has been in recent years because the big icebergs have finally drifted away. They have better access to food now that the ice bergs have moved on and the sea ice edge is moving south. So maybe the penguins have more energy and time to explore. The ice breaker channel is like a penguin super highway. We hear rumors that the orcas are not far behind.