Captured on camera for the first time ever, hundreds of six-month-old emperor penguin chicks were filmed taking a leap of faith off of a 50-foot cliff in Antarctica.
A penguin chick’s first jump into the water is typically only a foot or two, but in this rare case, the group ended up alongside a cliff’s edge.
Likely motivated to hunt the fresh fish, krill and squid in the water, the fledglings marched from the frozen land in West Antarctica to the surrounding Weddell Sea.
One baby penguin took a polar plunge into the sea, with other chicks following suit soon after. A National Geographic team filmed this rare behavior via drone in January 2024.
Credit: National Geographic / "Secrets of the Penguins"
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