The Snowy Sheathbill

There are only two species of Sheathbills, the other being the Black-faced Sheathbill. That is, until we all become sheathbills eventually!

I first came to know of this unconventional, disgusting and remarkable species while illustrating a habitat panorama of the Antarctic Peninsula for the Save Our Seas Foundation. The illustration is now at the Penguin Research Centre in Antacrtica, and has also been auctioned as prints at cruise ships visiting Antarctica to raise funds for penguin research! Read more about Save Our Seas work in Antarctica here.

Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

A Chinstrap Penguin Welcomes the UN Secretary General to Antarctica

Scientists have recently uncovered that Chinstrap Penguins snooze more than ten thousand times a day, when nesting! With war mongers and fossil fuel bigwigs still calling the shots around the world, we know who else does that too!

In other news, I am cartooning live at the UAE COP28 (joining online from India) , as the cartoonist-in-virtual-residence for the Global Resilience Partnership’s COP Resilience Hub. You can follow my work from COP28 by subscribing to the GRP’s newsletter here.

Emperor Penguin deaths in Antarctica

Thousands of Emperor Penguin chicks have perished in the last breeding season, owing to unprecedentedly low levels of sea ice in Antarctica's Bellingshausen Sea. Clearly, we've got the monarchy abolishment memo wrong!

Green Humour for DW Environment.

The Many Faces of Climate Change

The worsening impacts of climate change on the world week after week and month after month, have been exposing the hypocrisy of world leaders with their stance on fossil fuels. Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Climate Emojis for a Changing World

Pick your climate emoji! Cartoon for DW Global Ideas.

Keystone Species Awards

Did you know that the total biomass of the Antarctic Krill, at 379000000 tonnes, is the largest animal biomass of any species on earth? And it is this tiny organism that sustains the entire continent of Antarctica (as well as other landmasses in the Southern Ocean).

I first came to know of this astonishing piece of trivia when I illustrated a panoramic habitat representation of the Antarctic Peninsula for Save Our Seas Foundation . Read more about how all life on Antarctica, right from tiny petrels to gigantic Humpback Whales, link back to the Antarctic Krill in the food web, on the article accompanying the illustration.

That’s one organism that ‘kreally’ deserves an award (and the limelight!)

The comic is a part of my ongoing collaboration with Europe’s leading news channel DW for their social media page. 

Elephant Seal Sexual Dimorphism

On the extreme sexual dimorphism among elephant seals from my column with Sunday Mid-Day. 

Jonah's Icefish Breeding Colony in Antarctica

The largest breeding colony of fish in the world, comprised of the Jonah's Icefish, was recently discovered in Antarctica's Weddell Sea. A Weddell Seal brings presents this segment in my Sunday Mid-Day column. 

The Antarctic Peninsula : Illustration for Save Our Seas Foundation

(click on the image for a larger view)

Commonly perceived as uninhabitable and desolate, the Antarctic Peninsula is actually teeming with south polar wildlife, most of which is threatened by climate change today. A unique ecosystem where all food is derived from the sea, the biome harbours creatures as tiny as krill (that form the core of the food web) and as large as the Blue Whale! The terrestrial wildlife of the Antarctic Peninsula is no less splendorous, with five species of penguin, and seal diversity that ranges from the penguin-hunting Leopard Seals, to the gigantic Southern Elephant Seals that can dive upto 1550m to hunt squids! The illustration focuses on how life in Antarctica revolves around krill: Humpback Whales bubble net them, Blue Whales lunge-feed on them, Crabeater Seals have evolved specialized dentitions to hunt them, penguins dive after them, and storm petrels skim the sea surface with their feet in search of them! And if you're wondering why the ice at the penguin colonies looks pink, that too is from the colour that a krill based diet imparts to their poop!

A huge thanks to Save Our Seas Foundation for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to illustrate Antarctica in conjunction with scientists from Penguin Watch working in the region. The illustration will soon be auctioned to Antarctic tour ships to raise money for conservation efforts by SOSF and Penguin Watch. Read the article on the Antarctic Peninsula on their website here. 

Adelie Penguins protest Australia Antarctica Airport

Australia is planning Antarctica's biggest infrastructure project, a new airport and runway in Antarctica, which already has over 50 air bases. Being done in the guise of science, the plan is already being condemned by scientists worldwide. The project will threaten the populations of petrels, Adelie Penguins and seals among others.

The cartoon will be available in my stock cartoon gallery on Cartoon Collections on toons.to/rohanchakravarty

Green Antarctica

Green Antarctica. Cartoon from my column with The Hindu.

The Antarctic Algal Bloom

Earlier this month, pictures from Antarctica depicting the ice turning red emerged. And no, it was no martian invasion, but the blooming of a Chlamydomonas algae, precipitated by climate change. Comic from my column with The Hindu.

Netflix and Krill

On Netflix, 'Our Planet' and overpopulation, from my column with Sunday Mid-day.

Penguins of the World

It's World Penguin Day! Know your penguin species with this brand new poster, that enlists 21 of the described species with their respective IUCN status. Aquatic and flightless birds with remarkable swimming adaptations, penguins inhabit the Southern hemisphere (except the Galapagos Penguin). They range in size from the 45 kg Emperor Penguin to the 1.5 kg Little Penguin. Penguins are threatened by habitat loss and climate change, and the African, Galapagos and Yellow-eyed are some of the most endangered penguin species.

Get the artwork as prints, apparel and a wide range of merchandise on my webstore here. 

For orders within India, e-mail me on rohanchakcartoonist@gmail.com. The range of products for Indian orders is as follows-

A0 Posters (Matte surface, loose)- Rs. 3500 for the first print, 3000 for the second print onwards

A1 Posters (Matte surface, loose)- Rs. 3000 for the first print, 2500 for the second print onwards

A2 Posters (Matte surface, loose)- Rs. 1200 each

Mounted Posters (A3- Individual species and compilation)- Rs. 2000

Loose Posters (A3- Individual species and compilation)- Rs. 500 for the first copy and Rs. 200 for the second copy onwards

Fridge Magnets (65 x 65 mm, Printed in sets of 4)- Any 4 penguin caricatures for Rs. 1200

Coasters (3.5" x 3.5", Printed in sets of 6)- Any 6 penguin caricatures for Rs. 800

Coffee Mug (Compilation)- Rs. 850
Tshirts (compilation)- Rs. 1300 (White, Cotton, roundneck, sizes- S,M,L,XL)

BNHS Bird Migration Atlas

One of my most challenging yet enjoyable assignments this year was this mega-poster for the Bombay Natural History Society. The brief was to depict migration journeys, ringing and recovery efforts undertaken for 25 species of birds, while at the same time displaying migration in all its glory. To the left is a map of the Indian subcontinent that shows birds ringed and recovered within India. To the right is a map of the Old World, showing rings and recoveries outside of the subcontinent. The icons that enclose the birds, also depict their preferred habitat in ringing and recovery locations. 

Packing so much scientific information into a single visual was a real challenge, but at the same time a tremendous learning experience! The project introduced me to some real wonders of bird migration, such as the South Polar Skua, ringed in the Antarctic Peninsula and recovered all the way up in coastal Karnataka! 

The poster was displayed at the CMS COP 12 held in Manila in October. Thanks to Dr. Deepak Apte (Director, BNHS) and to Ms. Vibhuti Dedhia (Editor, Publications, BNHS) for commissioning me for the artwork, and to ornithologist Tuhina Katti for patiently answering all my dumb questions throughout the project!

Gigantic Iceberg breaks off from Antarctica

Antarctica lost a trillion tonne chunk of ice from the Larsen C ice shelf this week. While scientists are not certain that climate change is the prime culprit, this may just be the tip of the iceberg! News here.

Sustainable Travel Tips from the Arctic Tern

Be a responsible tourist; learn from the world's most experienced traveler- the Arctic Tern! (The Arctic Tern is the world's longest distance migrant, flying from the Arctic to Antarctica and back, each year!)

The compilation appears on my page with Saevus magazine this month. And just so you have these reminders at your disposal, the tips are available as a poster that you can get from my webstore here. (Orders within India can be placed on e-mail: rohanchakcartoonist@gmail.com)

Pole meets pole

Another one on climate change that appeared in Saevus magazine's January issue, in which I had compiled a page with cartoons on climate change. 

The Green Humour Penguin Field Guide

It's World Penguin Day! Green Humour brings to you the penguin field guide, the first of its kind!

                                                               

The King Penguin

The Emperor Penguin

The Royal Penguin

The Chinstrap Penguin

The Erect-crested Penguin

The Rockhopper Penguin

The Macaroni Penguin

The Gentoo Penguin

The Magellanic Penguin

And like always, the compilation is available as A3 and A4 posters. Email me (rohanchakcartoonist@gmail.com) to order your copies.

The Arctic Tern's migratory route

Here's to the kings of migration- the Arctic Terns. Covering about 80000 km each year on the wing, there's absolutely no stopping these birds! Published in Tinkle Digest this month.