Best Penguin Moments | BBC Earth

somehow in this melee of 60,000 or so Penguins a parent has to find its [Applause] chick it returns to the place where it last left its chick in the hope that it might still be close by but chicks tend to wonder so the adult has to call to [Laughter] it the chick responds and they slowly home in on one another the plaintiff inrees of the chick stimulates the adult to regurgitate a mouthful of fish with the return of one parent the other is free to go to Sea to feed for itself [Laughter] [Laughter] [Music] aware of the leopard Seal's presence the Penguins pressed together at the ice Edge unwilling to be the first to risk diving [Applause] [Music] in occasionally the seal comes out onto the ice and attempts to grab one [Music] but its most successful strategy by far is to lie in [Music] weight it hides behind a corner of ice the Emperors gain confidence and make a dash for [Applause] it the first wave of penguins Escape once in Open Water they will be safe [Music] but the seal is alerted by the noise and through the mass of bubbles it makes its [Music] attack almost invariably it makes a [Music] kill encouraged by the absence of the SE the remaining Penguins make a break for the Open [Applause] [Music] Sea in time their chicks will fledge and when the Antarctic Autumn is near its end these adults will will walk across the newly formed ice to endure yet another winter on the Frozen sea reunited at last the mother sees her chick for the first time she's Keen to start parenting but the father needs persuading to surrender the chick he's been caring for all winter he must now put his chick at risk in these temperatures it could freeze in seconds the male will have to let go eventually the transfer to the mother is safely made [Music] the chicks grow quickly on a diet of fish and Squid [Music] soon they're Keen to explore but always with mother in toe this chick is less fortunate its mother has not returned to claim it another orphan is searching for a new family but this female already has a chick of her own some orphans receive too much mothering from Penguins whose own chicks have not survived the UR to parent is so strong that they will compete with one another to adopt any Chick they [Music] find many of these squabbles end in tragedy as the poor chick is trampled to death [Applause] [Music] those chicks that do have parents quickly learn survival skills even in Spring they must huddle together for warmth just as their fathers did in the depths of winter a group of chicks has got lost in the blizzard cold and disorientated they search for The [Music] Colony it will not be long before the storm claims its first victims [Music] by early summer the chicks are surprisingly welldeveloped and now look ready to Take On The World those that survive their first year have the best possible start in life thanks to the extraordinary hardships endured by their parents parents who battled with the Antarctic winter and won the rock hopper chick is still stuck despite his caution he ends up taking the biggest tumble of all but his troubles aren't over yet a carak Cara a dangerous predator another joins at the worst possible moment he's completely outnumbered but then backup arrives steamer Ducks the most aggressive in the world they hate caracaras and won't give up until everyone is gone the chick's not about to hang around this time he has some company for his final farewell [Music] [Music] he takes the plunge sliding down the Rocks like it's a water shoot but it's not over yet the giant petrol is back predatory to the [Music] last the chick Dives but immediately pops right up again he's never been underwater before this time the petrol has him others close in for the kill but the petrol loses his grip this time the penguin stays safely under for good and joins the others in the [Music] sea he will never look back this is where he is meant to be he'll spend the next 3 Years Learning the secrets of the sea before he returns here to breed he's now in his element and gone in a [Music] Flash already the blizzard has reached the colony the chick's only protection is his Overcoat of down and atus 40 it's simply not enough and unfortunately the other mothers care only for their [Music] own the chick's mother calls one last time but her cries are lost on the Wind [Music] [Music] at last he's found and not a moment too soon [Music] within a few hours the full force of the storm engulfs the colony the chick may be safe but as temperatures drop to minus 60 his mother's warmth is not enough to protect him she needs to find refuge in the shared warmth of the other Penguins as 100 km an hour winds lash The Colony the Penguins huddle together sh sheltered from the storm they're snug at last but out on the ice the lone father is still paying the price for his mistake his only hope is to reach the safety of the colony in time in the comfort of the Huddle the penguins have all the shelter they need in the center temperatures can even reach a toasty 37° to cool down they Shuffle to the outside letting others take their place by sharing body heat they weather any storm desperate for the warmth of the family the lone father struggles on for the sake of his chick he simply has to make it back [Music] then through the blizzard [Music] salvation against the odds he's made it home [Music] then at last some weary figures appear [Music] utterly exhausted by the walk the mother still has one final challenge before she can meet her chick finding him there are over 3,000 fathers with chicks here and even to Penguins they all look the same for the chck time is running out but the penguins have a solution the fathers get in line and dad and his chick join [Music] them they form an identity parade all she has to do is simply work her way along the line [Music] sounds simple enough but among all the penguin lookalikes her partner is still tricky to recognize so every so often she stops and [Music] calls her cry is unique and the father responds with a call of his own it's what she was hoping to [Music] hear after 2 months at sea and a 100 km Trek across the ice she's made it back in the neck of [Music] time in a miracle of natural timing he gets a Mor that will save his [Music] life it's now his mother's turn to take over the child care but they must be careful a few seconds too long on the ice and their chick will die [Music] finally they unite as a family the bond they share is one of the most remarkable in nature [Music] for over the next 5 months they'll take it in turns to trekk to the sea to bring back food for their ever growing [Music] baby his father enjoed so much to get the tiny chick this far saying goodbye is [Music] hard this time there's no looking back in 4 weeks he will return with fresh supplies but first there's the little matter of a 200 km round trip to the Sea [Music] she's got a belly full of fish for her newborn but between them is a grueling 100 km track across the Frozen sea waddling at Less Than 3 km an hour it will take many days to get home [Music] Instinct drives them on their baby lives depend on them arriving in [Music] time back at the colony the father is getting to know his chick he gives him some high calorie baby milk produced from a gland in his throat but these supplies will only last a few days it's just as well his mother is on her way following her maternal Instinct she and all the other females are making steady progress on their journey home but in places the ice is way for thin below a predator tracks their every move a leopard seal the Penguin's greatest [Music] enemy the chick's mother senses Danger [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey she was right to be cautious [Music] broken ice is a death [Music] trap for the rest their chick is their only concern but the seal needs just one victim [Music] a near miss and she still has 60 treacherous kilometers ahead of [Music] her while the chick waits for her return outside temperatures are at -30 but the pouch covers him like a teac cozy and keeps him at a comfy Plus [Music] 37° for a new father walking with a chick on your feet is a tricky Balancing Act [Music] [Music] [Applause] hey he'll get the hang of it soon for

Channel: BBC Earth

Views: 165,626

Keywords: bbc documentary, bbc, bbcearth, bbc earth

Id: woCIpMyyjxw

Length: 24min 11sec (1451 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2024