Picture this: You’re a photographer disembarking onto the rocky shores of Saint Andrews Bay on the windswept island of South Georgia. Amid a waddle of 500,000 tuxedo-clad king penguins, one stands out like a fashion rebel on a monochrome runway. When Belgian wildlife photographer and seasoned expedition leader Yves Adams stepped ashore on a recent tour of the island, he was lucky to have his camera close at hand to capture photographs of an ultra-rare all-black king penguin.
"I tried to follow the bird as it had just come up from the surf. We had only a short window before it blended into the sea of black-and-white suits.” explained the excited photographer.
Adams had barely set foot on the island when a fellow photographer pointed out an unusual bird amidst the colony. Instead of the typical black-and-white attire and regal yellow ear patches, this bird's feathers were soaked in midnight, a condition caused by an overproduction of melanin, the substance that gives animals colour in their skin, hair, and eyes, and protects them from the sun's ultraviolet rays. This overproduction, known as melanism, is a rare genetic trait that leads to a darker than normal complexion, in this case across the entire body, except for some subtle metallic green shading on the penguin's neck and belly.
The rarity of such a penguin cannot be overstated: "I don’t believe anyone has seen this all-black penguin before," Adams remarked.
While rare, this standout is not a separate species or subspecies of king penguin – it's colour is caused entirely by a genetic anomaly. Melanistic animals are found throughout the natural world. Black squirrels, black guineapigs, black moths, black ladybugs, black crows, black roosters, and even black leopards and jaguars prove that this is a colour that's always in style. There have also been instances of rare animals such as white deer, white lions, and white "spirit” black bears.
Colour anomalies affect a number of species, including bears.
However, this anomaly does pose some disadvantages. The penguin's typical black-and-white pelage serves as camouflage while swimming. When out in the water these phenomenal swimmers enjoy the benefits of countershading – dark feathers on their backs blend in with the deep ocean from above, and a white belly matches the glinting sky when seen from below. For an all-black penguin, camouflage becomes a challenge when predators are on the prowl.
While it’s difficult to say for certain whether the unusual colouration will affect the penguin’s lifespan, being this dark could compromise its survival tactics. The all-black plumage won’t inherently shorten the bird's lifespan, but the key will be how well it adapts. The penguin has made it this far, helped, no doubt, by safety in numbers that comes with living in a huge colony.
Intriguingly, this isn’t Adam's first sighting of an oddly coloured penguin. Two years ago, Adams captured the world’s attention when he photographed an entirely yellow king penguin – a result of another genetic quirk known as leucism. This partial lack of melanin results in patches of white colouring in fur and feathers. Leucines, unlike albino animals (that cannot produce melanin at all), have normal-coloured eyes and may or may not have regular coloured legs and beaks (in the case of birds). All three conditions are hereditary but can skip generations, passed on by parents who show no visual signs of the genetic mutation.
While these monochromatic anomalies captivate us with their beauty, they also offer a rare glimpse into the majestic array of nature’s palette, teaching us that even when creatures are painted black or white, their stories certainly are not.
Header image: Yves Adams