David Attenborough TV – Nature’s Microworlds TV - New Zealand: Earth’s Mythical Islands TV - Monty Python’s Flying Circus TV - March of the Penguins 2005 - Cities: Nature’s New Wild TV -
Emperor penguins … The males are left with the eggs … The male Emperors stoically sit out the months of winter darkness. David Attenborough, The Living Planet II: The Frozen World, BBC 1984
The sun rises once more over Antarctica. Now at last the Emperor penguins abandon their huddle. The males are still carrying the precious eggs that they’ve cherished throughout the Antarctic winter. With the returning sun the eggs hatch. David Attenborough, Planet Earth s1e1: From Pole to Pole, BBC 2006
Vast numbers of Chin-Strapped penguins come ashore to breed. David Attenborough: Planet Earth s1e6: Ice Worlds
One creature is just arriving: every winter Emperor penguins leave the comfort of their ocean home and begin a remarkable journey: they head towards their breeding grounds almost a hundred miles inland. ibid.
Abandoned by the run, the males are left alone with their eggs to face the coldest, darkest winter on Earth. ibid.
The females are returning and their bellies are full with fish. As they approach, waves of excitement ripple through the huddle. Each female calls to her mate, and he, recognising her song, trumpets back. Reunited at last. ibid.
The chicks grow quickly on a diet of fish and squid. ibid.
Penguins are found only in the southern hemisphere. David Attenborough, Frozen Planet s1e1: To the Ends of the Earth, BBC 2011
Over forty million penguins take to the southern ocean to feed. They’re joined by thousands of whales. ibid.
Some penguins turn to a life of crime. David Attenborough, Frozen Planet s1e2: Spring
Bizarrely, it’s now that the Emperor penguins arrive, just as all the other penguins have left. David Attenborough, Frozen Planet s1e4: Autumn
Newly formed pairs promenade together. ibid.
The females start the long journey back to the sea. ibid.
Few places are tougher than the Antarctic. Chin-Strapped penguins: every day they travel up to fifty miles out to sea hunting for krill. But the hard part is getting this food back to the colony ... For a flightless bird getting to the top of the volcano is a gruelling climb ... Now she joins penguin rush hour ... She must try and find her family among a hundred and fifty thousand birds. David Attenborough, Life e5: Birds, BBC 2009
Emperor penguins: they endure the full force of the Antarctic storms. David Attenborough, The Blue Planet s1e4: Frozen Seas, BBC 2001
Autumn in Atka Bay, Antarctica. Just a few weeks ago this was open sea. Now, a new frozen landscape is forming. This new world appears devoid of life. Well, almost. An Emperor penguin. And he is not alone. Thousands of Emperors are coming to this frozen bay. They are here because the new ice provides the safest place for them to breed. David Attenborough, Dynasties s1e2: Emperor, BBC 2018
Emperors pair up anew every year … This bond needs to be one of the strongest in Nature … The couples now face weeks of waiting while their eggs develop. ibid.
He will now have sole responsibility for their egg all through the long harsh winter. ibid.
The males now perform one of the most spectacular demonstrations of cooperation in Nature. ibid.
The world’s only tropical penguins. Nature’s Microworlds I: Galapagos, BBC 2013
There are more species of penguin in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world. New Zealand: Earth’s Mythical Islands I, BBC 2016
Scientists believe that these penguins, these comic flightless web-footed little bastards, have finally unwittingly helped man fathom the uncharted depths of the human mind. Monty Python’s Flying Circus s3e12: A Book Before Bedtime, BBC 1973
There are few places harder to get to in this world but there ain’t anywhere that’s harder to live. The average temperature here at the bottom of the Earth is a balmy 58 degrees below. That’s when the sun is out. March of the Penguins, 2005
For millions of years they have made their home on the darkest, driest, windiest and coldest continent on Earth. And they’ve done so pretty much alone … This is a story about love. ibid.
The Emperor penguin is technically a bird. ibid.
Their long march will begin just as it has for thousands of years. ibid.
Here they will mate in relative safety. They are now far from the water’s edge. ibid.
It is the penguin male who will attend the couple’s single egg … He will do this for more than two months. ibid.
Crossing the city they [penguin] face something potentially even more dangerous: cars. Cities: Nature’s New Wild II: Commuters, BBC 2018