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Emperor Penguin Societies (Full Episode) | Secrets of the Penguins | National Geographic
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65 million years
ago when the world was a different
place. One brave
bird gave up
wings for
flippers and has never looked back.
18 species of
[Music]
penguin have gone on to become
masters of
sea and land.
Now, from the greatest penguin colonies
on
Earth, new science
reveals, there's more to them than we
ever imagined.
That's good.
Their bird brains might be brilliant.
No way. They're working as a team.
That's one of the best things I've ever
seen in nature.
Bravery, their
superpower. And
here in Antarctica,
there we go.
the coldest place on Earth.
Good luck, little penguins.
As the Emperor Penguin's
world melts beneath their feet.
Come on, little chick.
[Music]
The untold story of a new generation of
chicks reveals how their bonds with
family and friends. Surely they can't be
thinking of going off
[Music]
there. Shape their destiny.
I'm the best.
[Music]
Every year when winter
begins, the sea around Antarctica
freezes
over, creating a vast platform of
ice. Here, 20,000 emperor penguins come
ashore to raise a
[Music]
family. Emperor chicks are the only
animals who grow up through the coldest,
darkest winter on the planet.
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But that's just the beginning of their
story.
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Winter's over.
And this chick is now 5 months
old. Her parents have kept her safe and
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wellfed. But now they must
leave, returning to the ocean to eat and
gain strength to do it all again next
year.
[Music]
National Geographic explorer and
awardwinning cinematographer Birdie
Gregory is living with the
colony and documenting how this year's
chicks will face this defining
milestone. Oh, yum.
Make the most of that meal,
buddy. Cuz the next one you're going to
have to get
yourself. Poor chick. I mean, imagine
being fed your entire life by mom and
dad. And then all of a sudden, they say,
"Now we're going to stop and by the way,
your next meal is 30 miles that way in
the middle of the ocean. You're on your
own."
She doesn't yet know they won't be
coming
back, but she seems to sense something's
up.
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Although she'll likely never see her
parents
again, they've prepared her for
this from the beginning.
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It's the biggest moment in their young
lives. Together, they're going to have
to figure out how to get to the sea, how
to hunt for
themselves, how to be a penguin, and
that's becoming harder every
year. Oh.
There's an absolute little tidler just
here. It's teeny tiny. It's so much
smaller than the other
chicks. I'm actually surprised the chick
that small has been left alone.
Maybe his parents didn't make it back
from an earlier fishing
trip. And while he is very, very cute
because he's so
small, I'm really worried cuz there's a
big storm that's that's forecast to roll
in and he's so much more vulnerable than
the bigger
chicks. Makes my heart hurt.
[Music]
[Music]
This wind's starting to crank
up. It is getting really
cold. I lost that tiny little chick. I
don't know where it's gone.
Adults survive storms by huddling
together to keep
warm, but most are gone. And the chicks
are spread out, rapidly, losing body
heat into the
air. They'll make it through if they
remember they need to move and help each
other. Heat. Heat.
[Music]
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It's really
interesting as this wind starts to
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fill. A lot of the chicks from before
were kind of scattered around. And as
the wind builds, they're all gravitating
together. But just like their
parents, the chicks are forming their
very own huddle.
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I've spotted the teeny tiny little chick
on his own in the edge of the group.
Come on little check.
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[Music]
Well
done. Well, he's managed to get himself
surrounded by some bigger
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chicks.
His parents might have
gone, but his friends are standing by
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him. I just hope this rookie huddle is
going to be enough to keep them all
alive.
Yeah, this is getting dangerous for us
now. Good luck, little penguins.
Oh, I really hope that little chick's
okay.
[Music]
Oh
[Music]
no. Poor little thing.
That is
heartbreaking. Looking at the size, this
one does look a little bigger than that
really small
one. Must have just been stuck out here
alone. It's just so sad. Not just for
the chick, but you know, the the
parents. The amount of effort that goes
into raising each of these
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chicks. Well, well, that little chick
sadly hasn't made it. I'm very relieved
that most of them have.
And together these chicks have overcome
that big
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challenge. No way.
The little chick has made it through the
storm. What an absolute little
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trooper. Those other bigger chicks
huddling around. The little one helped
him get
through. Oh, well done.
[Music]
But this isn't the only relationship
they'll rely
on. Birdie and the team are discovering
the Emperor's entire existence depends
on their ability to forge connections.
And it all starts with their parents.
[Music]
At 4 years old, this young empress is
done growing
up. Now she's back home, and she's got 9
months to try and raise a family before
the platform of ice melts away again.
[Music]
She's equipped for the
challenge. At 4 ft, emperors are the
tallest and strongest penguins, but her
success depends on something deeper.
[Music]
Emperors don't meet for
life, but she'll still have to form one
of the strongest bonds in nature.
and she's found someone with
potential. Like some song birds,
emperors can produce two sounds at
once, giving each a unique voice.
[Laughter]
They're learning each others to show
they're
[Laughter]
serious. But emperor couples don't just
communicate with their
voices. They're playing copycat.
[Music]
It's their way of
saying you can count on
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me. The next stage of courtship is a
little less graceful.
In just two weeks, they'll face the
first big test of their relationship.
[Music]
Raising chicks through the Antarctic
winter is so hard. Emperors only lay one
egg a
year, the size of a
grapefruit. And in this society, it's
the fathers who look after them until
they hatch.
Keeping the egg off the ice in a
featherless patch called a brood
pouch. But getting it from mom to dad
tests their collaboration and
trust. If the egg spends much more than
60 seconds on the ice, the chick inside
will die.
For the young empress, there's still no
sign of an
[Music]
egg. But as the couple waits, the
National Geographic team captures
behavior never filmed before.
[Music]
A clue to how emperor's master the
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handover they practice.
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It's a sign of their shared commitment
to getting this
right. If the real thing does arrive,
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Her first egg.
[Music]
It's time for dad to step
up so she can go
eat. He's got to read her body
language. That means I'm ready.
like
[Music]
now. Come on.
Practice pays
[Music]
off. The life of their firstborn is now
in his
hands. Feet.
She must trust him with their egg for
two months as she regains her strength
at
sea. When she returns, the resilience of
their bond will make or break their
family's future.
[Music]
Until
then, he'll rely on a different
alliance, a ritual as ancient as the
emperors themselves.
For six weeks, the father to be hasn't
eaten or even laid down to sleep,
protecting his precious
egg. But now they face their biggest
challenge yet.
As the wind rushes off the ice shelf
onto the sea ice, it accelerates to 120
m an
hour, creating what's known as a
catabatic storm.
It's -
54° and there's only one way he and his
unborn chick will
[Music]
[Music]
survive. He must
join 5,000 other
fathers in a huddle.
[Music]
They've been practicing for this since
they were
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chicks. It's one of nature's greatest
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spectacles, but we're just beginning to
understand its mysterious power.
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They must stand as close together as
possible with only the tips of their
feathers
touching. Each penguin's feathers act
like insulation, trapping in a layer of
warm air. If they press against each
other, that warmth is lost.
But if they stand just millimeters
apart, the heat is shared between
them. The middle can reach
99°. But it's the dynamics of the huddle
that reveal an extraordinary truth about
emperor society.
The fathers move in
waves and they're not pushing to the
center to keep themselves alive.
They're shuffling
away step by
step. So even late
arrivals like
dad get their turn in the warmth.
[Music]
Because each takes only what they
need. They all
win. It means these
dads might keep a whole generation
alive by sharing through the coldest,
darkest winter on the planet.
[Music]
With the help of the brotherhood, the
young emperor has made it through the
[Music]
winter. And so has his daughter
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She could fit in a
teacup with a voice that would shatter
one. She needs food that only her mother
can deliver.
[Music]
Exactly how is still a mystery. But
after around two months at sea, a
hormonal change tells emperor mothers
it's time to come
home. They return with a meal within
just days of their chicks
[Music]
hatching. A voice he knows.
hers. But can she
identify his
[Music]
[Applause]
She has the rare ability to filter out
the cacophony of 20,000
voices to isolate just one.
[Music]
[Music]
Ah, he has not let her
down.
Her parents' partnership has kept her
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alive, but she won't be able to rely on
them
forever. And the team captures a clue
how they'll prepare her for
independence.
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Scientists believe it's possible that at
just 2 weeks old, the chicks are already
being encouraged to make
[Music]
friends.
Their mothers bring them face to
face, perhaps so they can learn to
communicate the emperor
[Music]
way, even seeming to mimic each other as
adults do.
[Music]
It's a mommy and me
class and the empress has brought her
daughter. She's a little
[Music]
shy, but mom knows how important this
will be.
[Music]
At a month old, she's starting to stand
on her own two
feet with a little help from mom.
[Music]
[Music]
By 2 months, she's ready for
[Music]
daycare. She's making the bond she'll
need for the rest of her
[Music]
life. They will stick together.
Like it or
not, winter is nearly over and soon
she'll rely on them to keep her alive.
[Music]
[Music]
The chicks are now 5 months old.
Their parents have gone and they've
begun their own journey to the sea in
search of a meal.
Their drive is
unbelievable. And it's not just this
lot. There are groups of chicks
everywhere making their way to the sea.
[Music]
Bird's been tracking this tiny chick and
his friends since they survived the
storm. The chicks really are growing up
fast. They've started this amazing
transformation where they
mol. You know, that gray fluffy coat is
amazing for keeping warm on the ice, but
it's completely useless in the water.
They need to lose it and get their adult
feathers ready for their first
swim. They're following the oldest and
most confident of the
group. An internal compass takes their
brave leader north.
But they've run into
[Music]
trouble. As our climate warms, the sea
ice is breaking apart
earlier, melting beneath them before
they're
ready. If their baby feathers get too
wet, they can drag the chicks underwater
and drown them.
This is really difficult to watch. They
are fighting for their
lives. Go
[Music]
on. The only world the leader's ever
known is crumbling beneath her.
[Music]
Waiting for the tiny chick is becoming
dangerous.
[Music]
He's struggling to keep
[Music]
up with the ice melting rapidly. They're
all at risk.
[Music]
The leader does something no emperor
chick should ever have to
[Music]
do. Leave their friend behind.
[Music]
The others make it on to stable ice.
[Music]
[Music]
The little
chick isn't finished
yet.
[Music]
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His friends are in sight.
[Music]
together again.
Just when I think these penguins have
hit their
limit, they do something
[Music]
extraordinary. After three more days of
marching, most of the chicks have
reached the sea.
They've lost enough baby feathers and
they're ready for their first swim.
[Music]
But in the scramble to reach solid
ice, the leader has taken a wrong
path and other groups have
[Music]
followed. What on earth is going on
here?
Hundreds of chicks are
stuck on a towering shelf of
ice. That cliff has got to be 40, 50 ft
high.
[Music]
What was
that? There's killer whales. We've got
killer
whales. Wow. Fortunately for these
penguins, the killer whales look like
they're moving
[Music]
on. But now the ice is
cracking. A huge creasse is opening up
behind them.
[Music]
One last time, the leader steps forward.
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
I can't believe
it. She's made it.
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
You know, we've seen that these chicks
stick
together. So, I think a lot are going to
start to
[Music]
jump. Here they go. Here they
[Music]
[Music]
go.
[Music]
Those first brave jumpers are giving the
rest the confidence to
follow. Some of them are even trying to
flap their
[Music]
wings. I had no idea that the chicks
would be able to make such a giant leap.
and then happily swim off together into
the southern
ocean. I really hope that tiny chick is
in there
[Music]
somewhere. In a world that's changing
fast, emperors face an uncertain future.
They'll rely more than ever on the bonds
they form with family and friends.
Good luck, little penguins.
[Music]
[Music]
Yeah. Yeah.
[Music]
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