Death Squad on Survivor Hop Island

As we neared the pond we heard the familiar noise of fast flying birds diving in for attack, those bloody Skua’s. They were being very persistent and we were aware that they may be protecting one of their babies but they were very close to having a trowel put directly in their path of swoop. After dealing with the onslaught of several angry Skua’s we had made it through their perimeter guard line and could move on to the lake.

 One of the infamous swoopers! Below a Skua hangs over the colony like a shadow of death waiting for the next little bundle of fluff to destroy!

 Skua chicks are usually the reason that you get swooped but often you do not see them untill it is too late! How many can you see in this photo?

 The Grim Reapers of the island go through part of their devil worshipping processes and make a fearful sound while they do it!

 Our first stop was at a site that we have likened to a Roman bath house. In this case for the Skua’s who bathe in the fresh water to get the blood of their penguin prey off their feathers after a good feed of baby fluffy, cuddly and cute penguin chick. Apparently the adults are too tough and you need to organise a side salad of seaweed! Back to the Roman bath that we had sampled the day before. On arrival we had noticed a dead Skua that had not been there the day before so an official autopsy was required!

No obvious signs of a struggle or abuse other than the fact that its eyes were missing! From here we could only hypothesise about the nature of its death and present condition! Why do you think it died?