BBC - Penguins Spy in the Huddle (2013)
Documentary showing penguins as they have never been seen before. From the freezing Antarctic to the scorching tropics, 50 spy cameras capture unique footage of three extraordinary species.
Chapter 1 The Journey
Emperor penguins cross a treacherous frozen sea to reach their breeding grounds, and on the way one becomes lost in a blizzard. Once there, the females flipper flight over the males and those that succeed 'waddle walk' with their partners. They must lay their eggs without touching the ice, but it is the males that face the greatest challenge - overwintering alone in the coldest place on earth. Rockhoppers brave the world's stormiest seas, only to come ashore and face a daunting assault up a 300-foot cliff, hopping most of the way up. Humboldts are a strange tropical penguin that has rarely been filmed. To reach their desert nests they negotiate 20,000 predatory sea lions, dodge vampire bats and battle half a million sharp-beaked seabirds.
Chapter 2 First Steps
Watched by spycams, chicks are hatching out all over. Male emperors form an identity parade before handing over their newborns to the returning females. The mothers shuffle into a huddle to protect their offspring from a blizzard. Outside, one tiny chick doesn't make it and lies frozen by his mother. Chickcam films the young ones walking on their mothers' feet and taking their own first unsteady steps. Females without young try to kidnap the new arrivals, and giant petrels force the chicks to huddle for protection. On the Falklands, rockhopper chicks meet some unruly neighbours - king cormorants. Predatory vultures are seen off by a penguin army. Caracara birds grab an eggcam and film the aerial shots of the colony! Parents take a rock shower and even 'chimney climb' to their own private spa. The chicks face more predators and bereaved parents plan a chicknap.
Chapter 3 Growing Up
The chicks are growing up fast and becoming increasingly independent. Emperor and rockhopper chicks are placed in a creche as their parents go fishing. The Humboldts are left in their burrows, as the adults enjoy a soft landing of feathers by a beach swarming with cormorants. Packed in a huddle, the emperor chicks have to be identity checked before they are fed, and their parents are swamped by hungry impostors. Giant petrels are an ever-present danger, while vampire bats target the Humboldts. As the young grow bigger and preen out baby fluff they sport punk hairdos. The emperor chicks go skating on a newly-formed ice rink, while the rockhopper chicks practice jumping skills. Eventually all the chicks leave for the sea, tackling the same hazards as their parents before them.
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