Wildlife photographer takes 'once in a lifetime' shot of a yellow penguin
This peculiar king penguin has a pigmentation condition called leucism.
Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu February 19, 2021
Credit: Yves Adams/Kenney News.
Belgian wildlife photographer Yves Adams was on a two-month expedition in the South Atlantic towards Antarctica at the end of 2019 when he came upon a dazzling sight that made him rub his eyes. There he was, as a lone dandelion, a “never before seen” yellow penguin among a colony of 120,000 king penguins. These breathtaking photos speak for themselves.
Credit: Credit: Yves Adams/Kenney News.
The unusual bird was caught on camera during the expedition’s stop on an isle in South Georgia. It wasn’t hard for Adams to notice something was off when he noticed a yellow stripe in a sea of black-and-white tuxedos.
“I’d never seen or heard of a yellow penguin before,” Adams told Kennedy News. “There were 120,000 birds on that beach and this was the only yellow one there.”
Credit: Credit: Yves Adams/Kenney News.
Like albino penguins, this yellow penguin suffers from a certain pigmentation condition known as leucism. In leucistic penguins, their cells don’t produce enough melanin to turn feathers black, which instead results in this yellow/creamy color.
More:
https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/wildlife-photographer-takes-once-in-a-lifetime-shot-of-a-yellow-penguin/
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... and the other penguins seem to be okay with differences.
