An ultra-rare all-black penguin has been spotted on a beach on South Georgia Island.

Photographer Yves Adams had just landed in St Andrews Bay in the South Atlantic Ocean this month when a colleague alerted him to the presence of an unusual bird.

Yves – who had already found a yellow penguin – quickly rushed to the beach to capture images of the melanistic king penguin before it was overwhelmed by the rest of the colony.

The striking bird has a black belly instead of the usual white and its neck feathers also appear black instead of yellow.

Yves, from Ghent, Belgium, said: “I was very happy to be able to capture all of this.

“It was my expedition leader who originally spotted the bird and she told me when I returned from a tour. I was really excited.

“He is part of a colony of hundreds of thousands of penguins that has this color pattern.”

“I tried to follow the bird as it came up from the waves onto the beach.

Ultra rare black penguin spotted on South Georgia Island beach

Photographer Yves Adams had just landed in St Andrews Bay in the South Atlantic Ocean this month when a colleague alerted him to the presence of an unusual bird.

Yves quickly rushed to the beach to capture images of the melanistic king penguin before it was overwhelmed by the rest of the colony.

“I knew I had limited time to photograph this bird as it headed towards the colony and you didn’t want to disturb it when they were all together.”

“I was very lucky to take a few photos of this isolated penguin before it was overwhelmed by the other normal-colored penguins.

“Melanism is something that occurs very rarely in birds and mammals.

“I’ve heard of it in other penguin species before, so I’ve wanted to see it for a very long time.”

Yves was leading an expedition for Starling Reizen when he had the opportunity to photograph the all-black penguin.

The penguin’s appearance is due to a genetic mutation known as melanism, which causes an overabundance of melanin, turning the feathers entirely black.

Examples of black penguins are so rare that there is little or no research on the subject.

Black penguins are more visible to predators, both on ice and in water, because their normal white bellies help them blend in when swimming.

The striking bird has a black belly instead of the usual white and its neck feathers also appear black instead of yellow.

Yves was leading an expedition for Starling Reizen when he had the opportunity to photograph the all-black penguin

The penguin’s appearance is due to a genetic mutation known as melanism, which causes an overabundance of melanin, causing the feathers to appear all black.

Yves said: “I don’t think anyone has ever seen this completely black penguin.

“The season has just started in South Georgia, we were only the third boat to dock there.

“I hope other people can see it too.

“I was very excited to see a purely melanistic penguin, because there are spotted or partially melanistic birds.

“From afar, the black is super black, but when you get closer, some of the markings on its neck and belly look like a metallic green.

“He was completely accepted by the other birds and his size was in no way different.”