Photo of the Day 254

Chinstrap Penguin, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, 2006

Photograph by Paul Nicklen

A solitary chinstrap penguin stands at attention on the rocky shore of the Antarctic Peninsula. These penguins, which rely less on sea ice than other species do for their survival, have thrived as climate change has warmed the ocean around Antarctica. Since 1974 their numbers have increased by some 2,700 percent.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Deadly Beauty," November 2006, National Geographic magazine)