Revealed: why the high-born penguin has to take the plunge
Dramatic footage reveals the logic behind the 50ft belly flop that has become fledglings’ rite of passage
THE mystery of why hordes of baby penguins congregate at the top of vertiginous sheer cliffs in Antarctica has finally been solved – they are there to jump off.
Filmmakers from National Geographic were astonished to see hundreds of fledgling emperor penguins leaping from 50ft ice sheets into the freezing water below.
It is known that at six months old, the chicks leave their colonies and march to the ocean to take their first swim, but they usually only dive from heights of one to two feet.
Since 2009, satellite imagery has shown that some colonies are breeding and raising their chicks high up on ice shelves, and many have been spotted making their way to the edge of steep cliffs.
Now, for the first time, filmmakers have shown that chicks are leaping from the summit of the Ekström Ice Shelf at Atka Bay, often belly-flopping into the water beneath, before bobbing to the surface, completely unscathed.
It is the first time this moment has been captured on camera.
The footage was captured in January by Bertie Gregory for National Geographic’s documentary series Secrets of the Penguins which is due to air next year. In the film, about 700 baby penguins were seen making their way to the cliff and loitering trying to pluck up the courage to make the jump.
Once the first one took the plunge, the others soon followed suit.
Mr Gregory said: “I’ve only ever seen emperors jump in off the sea ice and that is a couple of feet maximum.
“We know these chicks have grown up together and they stick together.
“Those first brave jumpers seem to give the rest the confidence to follow.
“Some of them are even trying to flap their wings. I had no idea that the chicks would be able to make such a giant leap and not just survive but happily swim off together into the Southern Ocean.
“That is a pretty unbelievable thing to see.”
Mr Gregory and the production team lived and worked from a tented camp on the Ekström Ice Shelf near the main Atka Bay penguin colony for almost nine weeks.
The team worked for two months in minus 5C using drone technology to capture overhead views.
Emperor penguin chicks start to lose their fluffy baby down when they are five months old, replacing it with feathers which they waterproof using oil from their preen gland.
In January each year, the new generation leaves their colony en masse in a rite of passage that will take them to the sea for the first time.
The footage is reminiscent of BBC footage of barnacle goslings diving more than 400ft from their nests to reach their parents below.