Penguin Rocks, Victoria, Australia

(Click image to enlarge)

The world's largest colony of the world's smallest penguin species resides on this island. They are little penguins, also known as the blue penguin due to its unique blue and white feathers. Each about the size of a bowling pin and about 40,000 individuals live here. They leave their underground burrows and enter the sea each morning before sunrise, regardless of weather, to feed on small fish, anchovies, pilchards, garfish and krill. They return to their burrows at dusk, making them the only penguins that are primarily nocturnal on land.

The fortunate ones have burrows in dunes near sandy beaches that slope gently into the water. The rest have burrows atop rocky cliffs that are up to 100 meters (328 feet) above the ocean. After climbing down the volcanic cliff faces they dive into waves crashing over the sharp volcanic rocks like those shown in this photograph. They are truly remarkable little birds living in an equally remarkable landscape.