Nilmini De Silva, Keeping her chicks safe (October theme: Family)

I took this image in one of the South Shetland Islands, commonly referred to as HO island. It was taken on my last landing in Antarctica. It had been a fabulous trip and I had done and seen things that I could never have imagined. On this land day, I had just wanted to say goodbye to it all and commune with the gentoos. We were given the chance to free roam that day provided we stayed a prescribed distance from the penguins. I just let the environment wrap its arms around me and gave thanks that one of my greatest dreams came true.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.