Rare Discovery: Uncommonly Seen Black King Penguin Observed on South Georgia Island

A king penguin suffering from a rare form of melanism has been spotted on a South Georgia island.

A completely black king penguin

When we think of a penguin, we imagine this animal black and white, with orange ear spots. Imagine that there are certain individuals who are completely black. This is the case of a king penguin seen on the island of South Georgia. A rare fact that Belgian photographer Yves Adams immortalized after hearing that an unusual penguin was walking around this island.

A unique moment for the photographer, who declares that “the season has only just started in South Georgia, we were only the third boat to land there. I hope other people can see it too”. He goes on to say that according to him, no one had ever seen a completely black penguin. And for good reason, he suffers from a rare form of melanism.

Melanism affects one in 250,000 penguins

Melanism is a mutation that results in an overproduction of melanin, the pigment that gives the black color to skin, feathers or hair. However, the melanism of this king penguin is unusual and remains very rare. Dr. Allan Baker, an ornithologist and professor of environmental and evolutionary studies at the University of Toronto, told National Geographic that penguins with melanism generally have a few white spots.

However, this one does not have any white spots. This genetic mutation is the opposite of albinism or leucism, where there is an absence of melanin, making affected animals paler and white. These different mutations generally remain harmless and have no impact on the health of affected individuals.

The king penguin, second largest penguin

The king penguin is often confused with the emperor penguin, but these two species differ in size. Indeed, the second mentioned is the larger of the two, since it measures up to 122 cm, which makes it the largest penguin, compared to 95 cm for the king penguin which finds itself in second place.

The king penguin generally lives on sandy or pebble beaches or grassy areas. It is part of the Spheniscidae family, which therefore implies that it lives both on land (to reproduce), and both in water (to feed). Unlike penguins, penguins are flightless but are excellent swimmers.

Source: IFLScience