Adelie Penguins

- By George Murray Levick
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British explorer and naval surgeon (1876–1956) Levick aboard Terra Nova in 1910 George Murray Levick (3 July 1876 – 30 May 1956)[1] was a British Antarctic explorer, naval surgeon and founder of the Public Schools Exploring Society. Early life[edit] Levick was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of civil engineer George Levick and Jeannie Sowerby. His elder sister was the sculptor Ruby Levick. He studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital and was commissioned a surgeon in the Royal Navy in November 1902.[2] He was secretary of the Royal Navy Rugby Union at its founding in 1907. Career[edit] Terra Nova expedition and Trauma[edit] Adélie penguins on the ice foot at Cape Adare by Levick Penguins jumping onto the ice foot by Levick He was given leave of absence to accompany Robert Falcon Scott as surgeon and zoologist on his Terra Nova expedition. Levick photographed extensively throughout the expedition. Prevented by pack ice from embarking on the Terra Nova in February 1912, Levick and the other five members of the party (Victor L. A. Campbell, Raymond Priestley, George Abbott, Harry Dickason, and Frank Browning) were forced to overwinter on Inexpressible Island in a cramped ice cave. Part of the Northern Party, Levick spent the austral summer of 1911–1912 at Cape Adare in the midst of an Adélie penguin rookery. To date, this has been the only study of the Cape Adare rookery, the largest Adélie penguin colony in the world, and he has been the only one to spend an entire breeding cycle there.[3] His observations of the courting, mating, and chick-rearing behaviours of these birds are recorded in his book Antarctic Penguins.[4] A manuscript he wrote about the penguins' sexual habits, which included sexual coercion, sex among males and sex with dead females, was deemed too indecent by the Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum of Natural History, Sir Sidney Harmer, and prevented from being published.[5] Nearly 100 years later, the manuscript was rediscovered and published in the journal Polar Record in 2012.[6] The discovery significantly illuminates the behaviour of a species that is an indicator of climate change.[6] In 2013, Levick's photography notebook was found by a member of the Antarctic Heritage Trust. It was found outside Scott's 1911 Cape Evans base. The notebook contains Levick's pencil notes detailing the date, subjects and exposure details for the photographs he took while at Cape Adare. After conservation it was returned to Antarctica.[7] This notebook should not be confused with Levick’s notebooks of his zoological records at Cape Adare, of which the first volume contains his revelations about the mating behaviour of the penguins.[5] Apsley Cherry-Garrard described the difficulties endured by the party in the winter of 1912: "They ate blubber, cooked with blubber, had blubber lamps. Their clothes and gear were soaked with blubber, and the soot blackened them, their sleeping-bags, cookers, walls and roof, choked their throats and inflamed their eyes. Blubbery clothes are cold, and theirs were soon so torn as to afford little protection against the wind, and so stiff with blubber that they would stand up by themselves, in spite of frequent scrapings with knives and rubbings with penguin skins, and always there were underfoot the great granite boulders which made walking difficult even in daylight and calm weather. As Levick said, 'the road to hell might be paved with good intentions, but it seemed probable that hell itself would be paved something after the style of Inexpressible Island.'"[8] First World War[edit] On his return, Levick served in the Grand Fleet and at Gallipoli on board HMS Bacchante during the First World War. He was specially promoted in 1915 to the rank of fleet surgeon for his services with the Antarctic Expedition. He married Edith Audrey Mayson Beeton, a granddaughter of Isabella Beeton, on 16 November 1918. After his retirement from the Royal Navy he pioneered the training of blind people in physiotherapy against much opposition. In 1932, he founded the Public Schools Exploring Society, which took groups of schoolboys to Scandinavia and Canada, and remained its President until his death in June 1956. Second World War[edit] In 1940, at the beginning of World War II, he returned to the Royal Navy, at the age of 64, to take up a position, as a specialist in guerrilla warfare, at the Commando Special Training Centre at Lochailort, on the west coast of Scotland. He taught fitness, diet and survival techniques, many of which were published in his 1944 training manual Hardening of Commando Troops for Warfare. He was one of the consultants for Operation Tracer; in the event that Gibraltar was taken by the Axis powers, a small party was to be sealed into a secret chamber, dubbed Stay Behind Cave, in the Rock of Gibraltar to report enemy movements. Death[edit] Levick died on 30 May 1956 at the age of 79. At the time of his death, Major D. Glyn Owen, chairman of the British Exploring Society wrote: "A truly great Englishman has passed from our midst, but the memory of his nobleness of character and our pride in his achievements cannot pass from us. Having been on Scott's last Antarctic expedition, Murray Levick was later to resolve that exploring facilities for youth should be created under as rigorous conditions as could be made available. With his usual untiring energy and purposefulness he turned this concept into reality when he founded the Public Schools Exploring Society in 1932, later to become the British Schools Exploring Society, drawing schoolboys of between 16 and 18½ years to partake in annual expeditions abroad into wild and trackless country."[9] References[edit] ^ https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4966529 ^ "No. 27499". The London Gazette. 28 November 1902. p. 8256. ^ "Shock at sexually 'depraved' penguins led to 100-year censorship". The Week. 10 June 2012. ^ Levick, G. Murray (1914). Antarctic Penguins: a study of their social habits. New York: McBride Nast and Company. ^ a b Davis, Lloyd Spencer (2019). A Polar Affair: Antarctica's Forgotten Hero and the Secret Love Lives of Penguins. New York: Pegasus Books. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-1-64313-125-2. ^ a b McKie, Robin (9 June 2012). "'Sexual depravity' of penguins that Antarctic scientist dared not reveal". Guardian.co.uk. ^ "Restored notebook goes home" Radio NZ Shannon Gillies 21 October 2014 ^ Cherry-Garrard, Apsley (1922). The Worst Journey in the World. London: Constable and Company. ^ British Schools Exploring Society Annual Report, 1956. Further reading[edit] Davis, Lloyd Spencer (2019). A Polar Affair: Antarctica's Forgotten Hero and the Secret Love Lives of Penguins. New York: Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1-64313-125-2 Hooper, Meredith (2010). The Longest Winter: Scott's Other Heroes. London: John Murray. ISBN 9780719595806 External links[edit] Works by George Murray Levick at Biodiversity Heritage Library Works by George Murray Levick at Project Gutenberg Works by or about George Murray Levick at Internet Archive Authority control databases International FAST ISNI VIAF National Norway Germany United States Australia Netherlands People Trove Other SNAC

Adelie Penguins


1 The penguins of the Antarctic regions very rightly have been called the true inhabitants of that country. The species is very old. Fossil remains of their ancestors having been found which showed that they have lived there for a long time. The penguin has adapted itself to the sea, like the fishes. This skill in the water has been gained at the loss of its power of flight, but this is not terribly important.
 
2 In few other regions could such an animal as the penguin raise its young. When on land its short legs make it hard to get around, and as it cannot fly, it would become an easy prey to other animals. Here, however, since there are no bears or foxes here, once ashore the penguin is safe.
 
3 The reason for this is that there is no food on the land. Many ages ago, a different state of things existed: there were tropical forests here and at one time, the seals ran about onshore like dogs. As conditions changed, they had to take to the sea for food. Then over time, their four legs became wide paddles or “flippers,” as the penguins’ wings have done, so that at length they became true inhabitants of the sea.
 
4 If the seals (the Adelies’ worst enemy) came back on the land again, there would be an end to all the southern penguin rookeries. As these, however, are inhabited only during four and a half months of the year, the advantage to the seals in growing legs again would not be great enough to influence evolution in that direction. At the same time, I wonder very much that the seals, who can squirm along at a fair pace on land, have not crawled up the few yards of ice between the water and some of the rookeries. Even if they could not catch the old birds, they could feast on the chicks when they are hatched. Fortunately, however they never do this.
 
5 When seen for the first time, the Adelie penguin gives you the impression of a very smart little man in an evening dress suit, so clean-looking is he, with his shimmering white front and black back and shoulders. He stands about two feet five inches in height, walking very upright on his little legs.
 
6 He is confident as he approaches you over the snow, curiosity in his every movement. When within a yard or two of you, as you stand watching him, he stops. Poking his head forward with little jerky movements, first to one side, then to the other, he uses his right and left eye alternately during his inspection. He seems to prefer using one eye at a time when viewing any near object, but when looking far ahead, or walking along, he looks straight ahead of him, using both eyes. He does this, too, when his anger is aroused, holding his head very high, and appearing to squint at you along his beak.
 
7 After a careful inspection, he may suddenly lose all interest in you, and ruffling up his feathers sink into a doze. Stand still for a minute till he has settled himself to sleep, then make sound enough to wake him without startling him, and he opens his eyes, stretching himself, yawns, then finally walks off, caring no more about you.

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GRADE:7

Word Lists:

Jerky : characterized by abrupt stops and starts

Squint : look at someone or something with one or both eyes partly closed in an attempt to see more clearly or as a reaction to strong light

Shimmer : shine with a soft tremulous light

Inspection : careful examination or scrutiny

Doze : sleep lightly

Beak : a bird's horny projecting jaws; a bill

Caring : displaying kindness and concern for others

Fossil : the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock

Hatch : an opening of restricted size allowing for passage from one area to another

Tropical : of, typical of, or peculiar to the tropics

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Additional Information:

Rating: B Words in the Passage: 566 Unique Words: 285 Sentences: 32
Noun: 149 Conjunction: 50 Adverb: 62 Interjection: 0
Adjective: 44 Pronoun: 54 Verb: 79 Preposition: 62
Letter Count: 2,418 Sentiment: Positive Tone: Neutral Difficult Words: 101
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