I want to kick off my photo of the month series for 2021 with an image I shot in January of 2020 of an Emperor Penguin on the sea ice in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica (Read the Trip Report). This was one of very few Emperor Penguins we encountered on this expedition and the only Emperor we were actually able to photograph on the ice at eye level. Although we saw quite a few during the expedition almost all of them were either in the water or were at too great a distance to photograph. In this example, we landed on the frozen sea ice with our zodiacs for evening drinks and serendipity stepped in and provided a wonderful photographic opportunity. The Emperor penguin, curious about all the people on the ice, jumped out of the water onto the ice and proceeded to provide us a wonderful half hour session on the ice.