A right Royal place for King Penguins...

Over one night the Orion crept into Royal Bay (named by James Cook in 1775) and Shaun woke us up at 4:00am for a dawn zociac ride and photoshoot of a 70,000 colony of gorgeous king penguins, at almost a metre tall, second in size only to emperor penguins. There was a fair bit of grumbling aboard because many had watched Denver win the Superbowl last night. Hot dogs were served to add to the occasion. The Hotel Manager Ian Vella had to ask for everyone to stop using their devices online, so there would be enough bandwidth to stream the broadcast without buffering.

First sunrays over Weddell Glacier, 4:00am.

The zodiac ride into a very protected beach was a little bit hairy, because we had to cross a rough bar. Erin, who drove our zodiac, handled the tricky conditions with aplomb - she's a very capable young lady. We heard from the ship's doctor Joe Rizza that a few people suffered minor injuries as their zodiacs cleared the bar returning to the Orion. Later we heard that many expeditions avoid Royal Bay because of the difficulty in landing, and we could see that in action.

Erin McFadden, not only an undersea specialist, but a very competent zodiac pilot.

Crossing the bar was tricky for the pilots and exciting for the punters.

It was a magic morning. Having seen the first rays of sunshine on the higher peaks, we disembarked the zodiacs into a rocky spit protruding into Royal Bay, and infiltrated this huge colony of the impossibly beautiful king penguins. We're told there are 30,000 pairs here, plus their children. It was sure crowded, not to mention noisy (the penguins sing this melody which sounds vaguely like a trumpet fanfare) and smelly. The guano is everywhere, and slippery.

Queued up to see us arrive?

Who are all these new orange coated penguins?

That feather colour gradation is nature's perfection.

Not a bad place for a penguin colony?

A practice lake for trainee swimmers?

Penguins reflecting on the lake.

There is a kilometer long stretch of beach totally packed with penguins, who enter and exit the water for feeding or playing according to their own timetable. The scene resembles Bondi Beach on a very hot summer's day.

Video by James Napoli.

Fresh from the surf.

Taking the plunge!

The regal demeanour of king penguins.

When the morning sun strikes, the king penguins all light up!

King penguins are a tourist photographer's dream. They don't move fast. They pose for you. Stand still and they will approach you. They interact with their colleagues, mostly slapping each other. They frequently stand in threesomes, which could well be two males competing for a lady's attention.

High density living on this rocky spit in Royal Bay.

No room for slackers at this king penguin beach.

It's a rocky path to the water's edge.

King penguins on parade at Royal Bay.

Doug Gould knows his birds.

King penguin chicks are brown and fluffy, and they need great fat reserves because they have to winter on the land without being fed by their parents. They hatch in January from eggs incubated under a parent's legs, but they don't put out to sea until after winter in September. Being so fat, they are temporarily bigger than the adults. The full cycle for King Penguins is 14 months from courtship to fledging.

King penguin chicks are brown and fluffy, and are known as "oakum boys".

King penguins threesomes are common - two males competing for a female, it seems.

There are some patches of tussock on this rocky spit, and here we find fur seals. Like they were at Godthul and elsewhere, they are grumpy and aggressive, not passive like the penguins, and will threaten you when it suits them, or when you get too close. They seem to back off with a stern word.

It's good to have a friend.

This little colony of fur seals ignored us, but others were more agressive.

Moulting kings are unhappy, and like to stand alone.

The whole bay is overlooked by the magnificent Weddell Glacier. It looks as if the glacier had pushed far enough to create the bar (i.e. a moraine), then since withdrawn back maybe 2km to its present location.

Not only a bar to cross, but a few growlers too!

Reboarding after a morning at Royal Bay.