I’s on the World: A Welcome Waddle

“They don’t seem to fear humans,” says Robert Harris of penguins he encountered on South Georgia Island. (Image by Amy Perlman)

You’ll stand out in Illini Orange and Blue, especially when everyone else is in a tuxedo. That was a lesson learned by Chicago attorney Robert P. Harris, ’77 LAS, on his November 2022 journey to South Georgia Island and Antarctica. Harris found this waddle—yes, that’s the collective noun for king penguins—friendly and eager to engage. “Those penguins had great personalities and were very curious,” he says. “They do not seem to fear humans.” The virtually uninhabited, temperate island of no more than 30 visitors—primarily researchers—makes for an ideal haven for the birds. Harris notes that, by his estimate, he encountered hundreds of thousands of penguins and hundreds of elephant seals during the excursion he made with his wife, wildlife photographer Amy Perlman.

For more photos of alumni around the world, check out our Flickr album. Send pictures of yourself clad in orange and blue to IllinoisAlumni@uillinois.edu. You also can post to www.Facebook.com/IllinoisAlumni and twitter.com/uiaa using hashtag #IlliniWorldwide.