At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a hero was born: Leif Penguinson, a Rockhopper penguin on a mission to hide each week in scientifically interesting (and eye-poppingly beautiful) locations around the world. (Read more of Leif’s origin story — and enjoy every puzzle over the first three years — in our first round-up of penguin puzzles.)
Now, on to the fun! In each case, to see a bigger version of the image, click the link in the text. Or skip straight to the bottom to revisit the hardest ‘spot the penguin’ challenge of all time.
We start with the year’s first penguin hunt, near the small mountain community of Winona in West Virginia. Can you find the penguin? (Click the text link to see a bigger version of the image.)
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Then our penguin pal was hiding on a driftwood-strewn beach in Waihe‘e Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge, in Hawaii. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
The next week, Leif Penguinson was hiding in the old growth forest of Congaree National Park, South Carolina. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Then Leif Penguinson was hiding in Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Later, Leif Penguinson was braving the sea-swept cliffs of Niarbyl on the Isle of Man, where rocks mingle from the palaeocontinents Gondwana and Laurentia. Did you find the penguin? When you’re ready, here’s the answer. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Come February, Leif Penguinson was hiding among the palms of the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park in Cuba. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Then Leif Penguinson was investigating a cave in the Russell Glacier in central-western Greenland. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
In March, Leif Penguinson was later embracing Scotland’s natural beauty near the coastal cliffs of Handa Island. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Then our penguin puzzle took us to the gleaming Ziquejie Rice Terraces in Hunan, China, where Leif Penguinson was hiding. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Later, Leif Penguinson was hiding from a tiger in Ranthambore National Park in India. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Then our penguin-search puzzle took us the river landscape of Oulanka National Park in Finland. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Then Leif Penguinson was visiting the mangroves in the Princess Alexandra National Park on the Turks and Caicos Islands. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Later, Leif Penguinson was exploring a rock formation on the Barker Dam Trail in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
The following Friday, Leif Penguinson was hiding in the striking Yolyn Am gorge in southern Mongolia. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Next, Leif Penguinson was visiting the ‘Where I Work’ photography exhibition near the Nature offices in London. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
The following Friday, Leif Penguinson was hiding among the lush mangroves in Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Next, Leif Penguinson was hiding in Tassili N’ajjer National Park in Algeria. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Then Leif Penguinson was hiding in the atmospheric laurisilva of Garajonay National Park in the Canary Islands. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
Later we searched for Leif Penguinson in the Gobustan Reservation in Azerbaijan. This rocky region is home to the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO world heritage site with rock engravings and burials that record human habitation from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. Can you find the penguin?
When you’re ready — click here to see the answer!
The hardest ‘spot the penguin’ challenge of all time (so far)
Over the August 2020 break, Leif Penguinson and four friends created the hardest ‘spot the penguin’ challenge yet. Leif, Passepartout, Heidi, Guino the pinguino and Bosworth the Buoyant (I knew that naming poll would come in handy!) were in Fantasy Canyon, Utah. Did you find the penguins? When you’re ready — here’s the answer.
Whew, what an adventure! Before we go, here’s a little tip for all you penguin hunters. Don’t imagine that my short introductions to Leif’s hiding places contain any clues as to where to find the penguin. I’m rubbish at finding Leif, and I don’t see the answers until you do!
