The Penguins (and more) of the Subantarctic Islands

By Heritage Expeditions

Step into a wild, remote world where penguins rule, sea lions roam and nature unfolds in breathtaking abundance ON an unforgettable expedition to the raw, untamed edges of the Southern Ocean.

Snares Crested Penguins surround us, hundreds of the dapper, dinner jacket-attired birds with rockstar golden brows fill the water around our Zodiacs, while hundreds more navigate the ‘Penguin Slide’ a towering, near-vertical ancient granite cliff face.

The birds scale the 100-metre-plus Slide on New Zealand’s closest Subantarctic

Island, the Snares, several times a day to feed chicks in nests tucked under giant tree daisies at the top. Huddles of penguins time their leap of faith into and out of a

foaming Southern Ocean patrolled by New Zealand/Hooker’s Sea Lions and Leopard

Seals at the Slide’s base.

More than 50,000-plus penguins call the Snares home, and this tiny clutch of jagged

islands is the only place in the world you can see them. It’s also the first expedition

day of Australasia’s only family-owned and -operated expedition cruise company Heritage Expeditions signature Subantarctic Islands voyage, Galapagos of he Southern Ocean. The voyage’s name referencing the astounding numbers and diversity of wildlife which call these seemingly inhospitable, wild and remote (indeed, the world’s most remote) scattering of Subantarctic Islands home.

But it’s not all about penguins, the Snares are also home to more nesting sea birds

than the entire British Isles, with thousands of Sooty Shearwaters, Buller’s and

beautifully-marked Salvin’s Albatross nesting and wheeling in the sky above. New

Zealand Fur Seals bask in the sun while New Zealand/Hooker’s Sea Lions escort our Zodiacs.

t’s easy to see why global travel bible Condé Nast Traveler included New Zealand

and Australia’s Subantarctic Islands, along with Heritage Expeditions and its

voyages, on its iconic ‘The 25 Best Places to Go in 2025’.

The Subantarctic Islands received another boost when Kiwi Hollywood legend Sir

Sam Neill declared his Subantarctic Island adventures with Heritage Expeditions as

“a wonderful time, I cannot recommend it more highly!”.

Crested Penguins on what is easily one of the more intense grocery runs in the

animal kingdom. It’s easy to see why he was so enamoured with them, describing his experience as a “dream fulfilled” to his 864,000 followers on Instagram.

Rare and unusual wildlife encounters continue on our adventures. On Enderby

Island, in the Auckland Islands, we give way Yellow-eyed Penguins/Hoiho on the

‘Penguin Highway’ also busy feeding hungry chicks. One of the world’s rarest

species, Yellow-eyed are unusually shy, reclusive birds with more of a sweeping

blaze of yellow eyeliner.

Enderby Island, and Sandy Bay in particular, where we have come ashore in our Zodiacs, is also a crucial breeding ground for New Zealand/Hooker’s Sea Lions — the world’s rarest sea lion. They litter the beach lazing, nursing pups, giving birth and, almost immediately after, reproduce amid clouds of sand as Beach Master bulls fend off challengers in a scene straight out of a David Attenborough documentary.

Attenborough isn’t far from mind as we hike an 11-kilometre loop of the island with

his former collaborator and legendary wildlife filmmaker in his own right, Nigel

Marven. Marven, a self-confessed penguin afficionado, is travelling back-to-back on

three Heritage Expeditions voyages to film his upcoming documentary Nigel Marven’s Penultimate Penguin. He recounts his adventures from previous voyage (Birding Down Under) ticking off the super-elusive Erect-crested Penguin, which only breeds on Subantarctic Bounty and Antipodes Islands, as we navigate wind-pruned Rātā forests, fields of ‘megaherbs’, lounging Sea Lions and nesting Southern Royal Albatross.

Nigel’s next voyage will see him travelling down to the ‘heart of Antarctica’ the Ross

Sea where he’ll film and observe Emperor Penguins for the first time, but not before

we visit neighbouring Auckland Island and its White-capped Albatross colony. Unlike

Enderby Island, Auckland Island isn’t pest free with years of feral pigs, cats and mice

decimating the wildlife and vegetation. Heritage Expeditions is helping change his, recently partnering with New Zealand Nature Fund, Department of Conservation,

Ngāi Tahu, and Island Ocean Connection Challenge on the ambitious NZ$80 million

Maukahuka Restoration Project.

At Musgrave Inlet we spot flamboyantly-browed Eastern Rockhopper Penguins on

the hop, before exploring stunning sea caves and a natural, open-topped cathedral

where marbled walls crowned with lush vegetation hangs suspended over cobalt

blue water.

During our visit to Campbell Island, we look for the small number of Erect-crested

and Yellow-eyed Penguins often spotted along the shores before exploring towering

cliff tops and wading waist-deep through colourful fields of gigantic alien-looking

flowers known as ‘megaherbs’. Famous botanist Joseph Hooker described them as

a “floral display second to none outside the tropics,” and we spend a magical

afternoon among them observing the Southern Royal Albatross colony where

nesting couples affectionately groom, rowdy juveniles engage in the raucous ating game of ‘gamming’ and there are more take-offs and landings than

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

 Joseph Hatch’s animal oil extracting digesters, which decimated the local Elephant Seal and penguin populations. They fly through the water below us, raft and porpoise around our Zodiacs, some peck at its inflatable sides, while others try to jump in. We are again, surrounded by penguins.

Photos and article by Heritage Expeditions for WeExplored.

To enquire about how to book a Heritage Expeditions tour, contact Australia's Adventure and Wellness Travel Experts on - 1800 414 131 or book@weexplored.com