Penguins (2012) - full transcript
Narrated by David Attenborough, "Penguins 3D" celebrates the destiny of a very special King Penguin, who returns to his birthplace in the sub-Antarctic. Known as Penguin City, the island is home to hundreds of albatrosses, fur seals and brawling elephant seals-as well as six million penguins! Somehow our hero must earn his place among the island inhabitants and fulfill his destiny by finding a mate and raising a family. What follows is the story of the most challenging time in a King Penguin's life, when he is driven to nurture and defend his offspring against harsh weather and fierce predators. This cosmic drama plays out in one of Earth's last great wildernesses, amid steep mountain ranges and windblown plains half buried beneath snow and ice. "Penguins 3D" is an unforgettable tale of one King Penguin's journey through his species' central rite of passage.
At the bottom of the world...
far from any human settlement,
rising from the waters of
the cruel southern ocean...
..there is an island.
South Georgia.
It's a harsh place...
battered by Antarctic weather.
But it is also a refuge.
As spring warms the shore
and the snow melts,
all manner of characters come.
The albatross, which can circle
the world in a single flight,
chooses to make its nest here.
The lumbering elephant seals
haul their enormous bodies
clear of the surf.
And fur seals come ashore
in their thousands.
Their presence draws predators.
Patrolling offshore...
killer whales.
And savage leopard seals.
From the skies, thieving skuas.
And the bloodthirsty giant petrels.
Yet it is another group
that dominates.
Penguins.
King penguins.
One of them, a young bachelor,
is returning home.
This is his journey.
He hatched on this beach
four years ago.
He's flanked by two loyal cousins.
The three of them have completed
an epic voyage,
the one all king penguins make
as soon as they're free
of their parents.
They've barely set foot on dry land
in almost three years.
But now, they're back.
The fur seals still make a fuss.
The elephant seals
still hog the beach.
The skuas are still here,
looking for whatever they can steal.
No, the old place
hasn't changed much.
But these three have.
When they left, they were
barely more than chicks.
Now, they're all grown up.
Well...nearly.
They make their way
up through the suburbs.
Finally, it lies before them.
Penguin City.
(CACOPHONY)
Our bachelor heads straight in,
and leaves his cousin standing.
First, he sees
the established males,
each guarding an egg.
There are thousands
of half-grown chicks,
each one someone's responsibility.
Though they hatched
several months ago,
it will be weeks before
they're ready to leave.
There are young males here,
squabbling over unattached females.
And everywhere he looks,
there are couples.
This entire city is devoted
to the business of breeding.
Our childless, footloose bachelor
hasn't yet found his place.
Where he fits in exactly
is not at all clear.
It's possible to be quite lonely
in a crowd.
But then...
..who's that?
She sees him staring...
..and meets his eye.
They've clicked.
But...
he's got an itch.
He knows exactly what this is.
It's nature's way
of ruining his chances.
And she is not impressed.
He's too distracted to notice
that she's left.
And before long...
he's in the middle of it.
The moult.
Every single one of his feathers
is falling out.
Of course, he's not the only one.
And he's joined in his misery
by his cousins.
What began as a glorious homecoming
has become an endurance test.
His coat of new feathers
isn't yet waterproof,
so he isn't going anywhere
until this is over.
The moult takes two long weeks...
..leaving our bachelor underfed
and very fed up.
Only when it's finished
can he go back to sea
to find something to eat.
Three weeks have passed
since our bachelor left,
skinny and beaten
in a cloud of old feathers.
But now...
he's back.
He's got one thing on his mind
and he won't be stopped.
Certainly not by a gang
of fur seals.
He's fished, he's fat
and he's going to find that female.
This is a walk that talks.
And though there are many females
in Penguin City,
this is a message
meant for just one.
She's almost certainly
not where he left her.
What if she's taken up
with someone else?
No, she's right there.
And she looks just as good.
ETHEREAL MUSIC
She casts an eye over
his brand-new feathers...
..and turns her back.
Our king's not about to give up.
He rushes to get in front of her.
When he's sure
she's paying attention...
he bows.
And she copies him.
That's a good sign.
And now he must stand tall.
He's shown what he has to offer...
..it's up to her.
The choice is made.
This time, she makes
the first gesture.
He's never done this before,
but he knows how the ritual works.
And so does she.
This special strut is all for her,
while they look for
a patch of ground
to make a home and rear a chick.
This is the place.
Intimacies can now commence.
Eventually, she feels his feet
on the small of her back.
And there's a brief balancing act.
Our king and his mate are partners.
In the coming months, they will
often be hundreds of miles apart.
But they will be linked
by the same shared purpose.
To bring a new life into the world.
There's not much
by way of a honeymoon.
Penguin couples aren't big
on being alone together.
They're joined
by dozens of others...
playing in the surf.
This is one brief chance
for the two of them to have fun.
Life is about to become
a lot harder.
On the hillside, the albatrosses,
like our penguins,
are romancing one another
with a dance.
While far below, our king's life
has been turned upside down.
12 days after that first encounter,
he finds himself sitting on an egg.
Immediately after
his partner laid it,
she passed it over to him
to keep it warm.
Now, the couple must divide up
the work.
When the chick hatches,
it will need feeding.
One of them needs to collect
a bellyful of fish.
That's for her to do.
His task is to sit tight
and keep guard.
Off she goes.
While she's gone,
he stays rooted to the spot.
It will be 55 days
from laying to hatching.
One of the cousins has taken up
a position next to our king,
guarding an egg of his own.
The nights are bitterly cold.
He and his cousin and a thousand
other males are all in it together.
His mate is out there alone.
And her journey to find fish
takes her hundreds of miles.
Only a thin shell separates him
from his chick,
and it can hear him.
It will hatch knowing his voice.
(SQUAWKING)
It's not always tranquil.
There are scuffles.
He had built up reserves of fat.
Now, with nothing to eat,
he's losing weight.
And still, she keeps fishing.
She is no longer hungry,
but she has to keep eating.
Back on the island,
the males have to stand
no matter what the weather.
With every passing day, our king
leaves his bachelor life
further and further behind.
(ANGUISHED CRIES)
Skuas.
Two of them.
They want eggs.
Our king mustn't move.
(ANGRY CALLS)
A barrage of angry calls
deflects one.
But not the other.
The skua taunts him.
If our king lunges,
he will expose his egg.
And that is what the skua wants.
Our king's egg is still safe.
And now his partner
is coming back.
Even in a crowd,
he can recognise her voice.
But in his excitement,
he's relaxed his guard.
He's got to get it back.
Here she comes.
Just in time.
He stood tall,
and the egg is undamaged.
Slowly,
summer creeps over the island.
Like our king, the albatross
has been guarding an egg.
The fur seal pups have arrived
and are growing fast.
And in Penguin City, life is
as comfortable as it will ever be.
Our king keeps on talking
to his egg
and he and his partner wait
amongst the crowd.
For him and his cousin,
fatherhood is a long time coming.
He feels a little movement
on the top of his feet.
Their chick -
tiny, bald and perfect.
Our new mother steps in,
and for the first time she feeds it.
Both parents will have to work hard
if the chick is to have
any chance of survival.
There are more dangers here
than mere cold and hunger.
Our king and his mate
are now committed to a way of life.
One which means that they will
rarely be together for long.
It's his turn to go,
and hers to stay.
She will protect and feed
their chick until he returns.
For the first time in a long time,
he gets to leave Penguin City...
..to swim, fish and eat.
He is starving.
He can barely contain himself.
His cousin has not been so lucky.
His egg has remained silent.
Only when he dares to
look at it closely
does he see that he has been
sitting on a stone all this time.
He and the other cousin
might as well go fishing too.
They meet our king on the shoreline.
A crowd is gathering.
Our trio joins the party.
They all assemble in the shallows
to set out hunting as a pack,
just as they did
in their bachelor days.
But so much splashing
attracts attention.
Though our king can't see it,
there's something in the water.
It's a leopard seal.
Our king has had
a very narrow escape.
He and the others
bolt for the open sea.
Four days have passed
since its father left,
and the chick is still
begging for more fish.
It still has only the thinnest
covering of feathers
and can easily become cold.
It's growing, though, and fast.
The skua is still prowling,
but it won't do more than look,
not with Mum right there.
The chick has no sense of danger.
It's just inquisitive.
And it doesn't yet know
what its wings are for.
And while the albatross,
the biggest bird of them all,
soars far above them, it heads
back beneath its mother for warmth.
The albatross is setting out
on a hunting trip of its own.
It too has a chick to feed.
Already bigger than
a fully grown king,
waiting while its father
heads far out to sea.
Here, our one-time bachelor
is working hard.
Nothing beats diving at dusk.
A shoal of glowing lantern fish
rises as if to meet him.
It's been two weeks
since our king left.
Our chick begs for more
of what little food remains
in its mother's stomach.
The mother can't carry on like this
for ever.
If her partner doesn't come soon,
she will have to make
a terrible choice.
Either she or the chick
will starve.
But the fishing party
is on its way back.
It's an orca - a killer whale.
If it catches them,
it will rip them to pieces.
That was close.
If the orca had spotted them
just a little further out to sea,
well, Penguin City would have
three fewer penguins.
(SEALS GROWL)
But in their haste to get ashore,
they have landed at the wrong end
of the beach.
All the king wants to do
is to get back to his partner
and feed his chick.
But there is new trouble.
Elephant seals.
At least 20 of them.
60 tonnes of blubber and flatulence.
And they don't like being disturbed.
Well, they can't go back.
They can't go round.
The only option
is to find a way through.
Our king seizes the moment
and leads a death-or-glory charge.
(SEAL BREAKS WIND)
Bad idea.
(SEAL GROWLS)
(GROWLING)
It's time to regroup.
Perhaps a more stealthy approach
would be better.
Not that way.
(GROWLING)
Or that way.
(SEAL BREAKS WIND)
Our king spots his chance.
He leads his cousins through.
A city full of penguins,
each with its own cry.
Despite this,
our king can call right across them
and still hear the answer
he's hoping for.
(PENGUIN CALLS)
(HIGH-PITCHED CALL)
In the time he's spent away,
his chick has changed
almost beyond recognition.
For the first time,
he can take over.
Another step towards
becoming a true king.
Between them, these two
will do everything they can
to keep their chick from hunger.
For our cousins, the homecoming
has been rather different.
They watch how their old companion
is taking to his new role as father.
It seems every male around them
has made the same step.
So they're both a little lost.
This one really wants a chick.
That overpowering desire
has never left him.
As the urge grows,
he looks for any small chick
that he might take as his own.
Best for the cousins to leave
until it all blows over.
Our couple must prepare their chick
for the first great test
of its life.
They're using these short summer
months to build up its strength.
It has a layer of fat
and a thick coat.
And it will need both
when the weather worsens.
But it will need something else
too...
..toughness.
It will have to stand and endure
whatever the weather.
And it will only learn that
by being left on its own.
(CHICK CRIES OUT)
(CRIES INTENSIFY)
They can hear its cries
above the noise of the city,
but this is what they have to do.
And so their chick goes from being
the centre of its parents' world
to become just one amongst many
in a huge penguin creche.
Both go fishing now.
Their chick needs ever more food.
For the best chance of success,
as soon as they reach open water,
they will head out
in different directions.
The dangers of the ocean await them
once again.
Their chick can only hope
that its parents make it back.
The creche in Penguin City is
the largest on earth.
There are thousands here.
With its parents gone,
our chick's best option
is to join in with the others.
They're all the same age
and all abandoned.
For now, this will be
our chick's home.
While our king has gone out to sea,
his cousins have stayed
close to the shore.
They have only themselves
to look after.
They only need a place to go while
the fuss in Penguin City dies down.
They've never landed on this beach
before
and they're met with a sound
they don't recognise.
(CHITTERING)
This is another city.
Different penguins, different rules.
This is the home...
of the Macaronis.
They live life at a faster pace.
They're a quarrelsome lot.
If the cousins were expecting
a welcome...
they've got it wrong.
And for the second time
they have to beat a hasty retreat.
The next bay along was once packed
with fur seals.
Now, only the dead
and the fatally weak remain.
It wasn't the skuas that did this,
but something much worse.
Giant petrels.
They aren't scavengers,
they're killers.
When giant petrels feed, all they
leave behind is skin and bone.
Our cousins have seen enough.
They're heading straight back
to Penguin City.
If the petrels find any creature
that is weak or vulnerable,
any chick that's not
properly protected...
..they will attack it.
Autumn. Snow hits the island.
This is something
our chick has never known.
Not so long ago
its mother kept it warm.
Now, she is gone, and a coat of down
is hardly a substitute.
And there are some things
against which it offers
no protection at all.
Over on the edge of the city, two
birds our chick doesn't recognise.
It needs its parents.
Our mother is labouring away,
catching fish.
But she's not finding many
that are suitable for penguins.
She has no choice,
she must keep going.
From out of the crowd,
two familiar figures...
..our cousins.
In spite of everything,
they're welcome here.
There are dozens of chicks
who need protecting.
Penguins rely on
strength in numbers.
No such comfort for our king
out at sea.
(THUNDER)
He's trying to head home,
but a storm overtakes him.
He's alone, and the ocean is
battering him.
(GULLS SCREECH)
Back on the beach, the cousins are
in no mood to tolerate a skua.
They have greater dangers
to deal with.
The few adults still here
patrol the edges of the creche.
But they can't be everywhere.
Our king's two cousins
take up their posts.
There are petrels on all sides.
At first they're just probing,
seeing how vigorously the adults
will defend their charges.
Then they start to attack.
Nothing can stop them.
And without its parents,
our chick is easy prey.
Free of the storm,
our king seizes his chance
and strikes out for a home.
The petrels are now amongst
the chicks.
Now they can do as they please.
Our king is nearing the shore.
He can see the city ahead of him.
But the petrels are now in
our chick's part of the creche.
The killers see no need to rush.
This one has picked its next target.
It wants our chick.
(CHICK SCREECHES)
Our king spurs his cousins
into action.
Together, they rally the other
penguins to fight back.
Our king feeds his youngster.
And when it begs again,
he feeds it again.
Leaving the chick has tested it.
Our king has been tested too...
and has proved himself.
But something is missing.
There are only two of them here.
There should be three.
Where is his mate?
She is on her way back.
The sea is calm.
Calm enough for her
to swim with ease.
Calm enough too for her
to spot a tell-tale fin.
Our king waits...
..but all there is now for him...
..is his chick...
..and a question.
How can he possibly raise his
youngster to adulthood...
..on his own?
Winter. The macaronis feel it
and start to leave.
And when the other creatures
on the island see them going,
they know it's time for them
to start leaving, too.
The last few seals
will soon be gone,
but Penguin City will remain.
Our king must bring his youngster
through the harshest of times.
It will be months before it can
go to sea and fish for itself.
Our king feeds the youngster
when he can, with what he can.
He can only hunt for short periods
but he must do so whenever possible,
or his chick will starve.
They must battle
both hunger and the cold.
In the depths of winter,
the king penguins stand alone.
This is the time
when many parents fail.
And many chicks fall.
It's the last and toughest leg
of our king's journey.
It takes four months
until at last the weather eases.
A trace of green returns...
..and the melting snow
runs down to the sea.
The macaronis swarm back
onto the land,
bringing the spring with them.
The young albatross, now ten months
old, takes its first flight.
Slowly, the whole island
is coming back to life.
The same rituals...
..the same faces.
And in Penguin City...
..our youngster is alive and well.
Our king still has
to feed his youngster,
even though it's now
almost a year old,
and it's almost as tall as he is.
He already knows about
the next irksome phase.
The flapping.
The itching.
There's nothing
he can do to help with this.
Our youngster joins our king
and his cousins
looking recognisably penguin.
Its first adult feathers.
They ARE waterproof.
They don't quite have
the colours yet.
The beak will remain black
for a while.
But it will do.
All its life so far
has been spent on land,
but now the sea beckons.
Our youngster
can now fend for itself.
HE has to watch his chick leave.
He looks on as, for the first time,
his youngster meets the water.
It's more than a year
since our king, as a bachelor,
stepped through these waves to find
his mate and father his chick.
Up until this moment,
he has protected it.
He hunted for it.
And fed it throughout the winter.
Now his youngster can face
the ocean alone.
This is the life he raised it for.
And when it's gone,
his journey is complete.
He has found his place
in Penguin City
as one of its true kings.
far from any human settlement,
rising from the waters of
the cruel southern ocean...
..there is an island.
South Georgia.
It's a harsh place...
battered by Antarctic weather.
But it is also a refuge.
As spring warms the shore
and the snow melts,
all manner of characters come.
The albatross, which can circle
the world in a single flight,
chooses to make its nest here.
The lumbering elephant seals
haul their enormous bodies
clear of the surf.
And fur seals come ashore
in their thousands.
Their presence draws predators.
Patrolling offshore...
killer whales.
And savage leopard seals.
From the skies, thieving skuas.
And the bloodthirsty giant petrels.
Yet it is another group
that dominates.
Penguins.
King penguins.
One of them, a young bachelor,
is returning home.
This is his journey.
He hatched on this beach
four years ago.
He's flanked by two loyal cousins.
The three of them have completed
an epic voyage,
the one all king penguins make
as soon as they're free
of their parents.
They've barely set foot on dry land
in almost three years.
But now, they're back.
The fur seals still make a fuss.
The elephant seals
still hog the beach.
The skuas are still here,
looking for whatever they can steal.
No, the old place
hasn't changed much.
But these three have.
When they left, they were
barely more than chicks.
Now, they're all grown up.
Well...nearly.
They make their way
up through the suburbs.
Finally, it lies before them.
Penguin City.
(CACOPHONY)
Our bachelor heads straight in,
and leaves his cousin standing.
First, he sees
the established males,
each guarding an egg.
There are thousands
of half-grown chicks,
each one someone's responsibility.
Though they hatched
several months ago,
it will be weeks before
they're ready to leave.
There are young males here,
squabbling over unattached females.
And everywhere he looks,
there are couples.
This entire city is devoted
to the business of breeding.
Our childless, footloose bachelor
hasn't yet found his place.
Where he fits in exactly
is not at all clear.
It's possible to be quite lonely
in a crowd.
But then...
..who's that?
She sees him staring...
..and meets his eye.
They've clicked.
But...
he's got an itch.
He knows exactly what this is.
It's nature's way
of ruining his chances.
And she is not impressed.
He's too distracted to notice
that she's left.
And before long...
he's in the middle of it.
The moult.
Every single one of his feathers
is falling out.
Of course, he's not the only one.
And he's joined in his misery
by his cousins.
What began as a glorious homecoming
has become an endurance test.
His coat of new feathers
isn't yet waterproof,
so he isn't going anywhere
until this is over.
The moult takes two long weeks...
..leaving our bachelor underfed
and very fed up.
Only when it's finished
can he go back to sea
to find something to eat.
Three weeks have passed
since our bachelor left,
skinny and beaten
in a cloud of old feathers.
But now...
he's back.
He's got one thing on his mind
and he won't be stopped.
Certainly not by a gang
of fur seals.
He's fished, he's fat
and he's going to find that female.
This is a walk that talks.
And though there are many females
in Penguin City,
this is a message
meant for just one.
She's almost certainly
not where he left her.
What if she's taken up
with someone else?
No, she's right there.
And she looks just as good.
ETHEREAL MUSIC
She casts an eye over
his brand-new feathers...
..and turns her back.
Our king's not about to give up.
He rushes to get in front of her.
When he's sure
she's paying attention...
he bows.
And she copies him.
That's a good sign.
And now he must stand tall.
He's shown what he has to offer...
..it's up to her.
The choice is made.
This time, she makes
the first gesture.
He's never done this before,
but he knows how the ritual works.
And so does she.
This special strut is all for her,
while they look for
a patch of ground
to make a home and rear a chick.
This is the place.
Intimacies can now commence.
Eventually, she feels his feet
on the small of her back.
And there's a brief balancing act.
Our king and his mate are partners.
In the coming months, they will
often be hundreds of miles apart.
But they will be linked
by the same shared purpose.
To bring a new life into the world.
There's not much
by way of a honeymoon.
Penguin couples aren't big
on being alone together.
They're joined
by dozens of others...
playing in the surf.
This is one brief chance
for the two of them to have fun.
Life is about to become
a lot harder.
On the hillside, the albatrosses,
like our penguins,
are romancing one another
with a dance.
While far below, our king's life
has been turned upside down.
12 days after that first encounter,
he finds himself sitting on an egg.
Immediately after
his partner laid it,
she passed it over to him
to keep it warm.
Now, the couple must divide up
the work.
When the chick hatches,
it will need feeding.
One of them needs to collect
a bellyful of fish.
That's for her to do.
His task is to sit tight
and keep guard.
Off she goes.
While she's gone,
he stays rooted to the spot.
It will be 55 days
from laying to hatching.
One of the cousins has taken up
a position next to our king,
guarding an egg of his own.
The nights are bitterly cold.
He and his cousin and a thousand
other males are all in it together.
His mate is out there alone.
And her journey to find fish
takes her hundreds of miles.
Only a thin shell separates him
from his chick,
and it can hear him.
It will hatch knowing his voice.
(SQUAWKING)
It's not always tranquil.
There are scuffles.
He had built up reserves of fat.
Now, with nothing to eat,
he's losing weight.
And still, she keeps fishing.
She is no longer hungry,
but she has to keep eating.
Back on the island,
the males have to stand
no matter what the weather.
With every passing day, our king
leaves his bachelor life
further and further behind.
(ANGUISHED CRIES)
Skuas.
Two of them.
They want eggs.
Our king mustn't move.
(ANGRY CALLS)
A barrage of angry calls
deflects one.
But not the other.
The skua taunts him.
If our king lunges,
he will expose his egg.
And that is what the skua wants.
Our king's egg is still safe.
And now his partner
is coming back.
Even in a crowd,
he can recognise her voice.
But in his excitement,
he's relaxed his guard.
He's got to get it back.
Here she comes.
Just in time.
He stood tall,
and the egg is undamaged.
Slowly,
summer creeps over the island.
Like our king, the albatross
has been guarding an egg.
The fur seal pups have arrived
and are growing fast.
And in Penguin City, life is
as comfortable as it will ever be.
Our king keeps on talking
to his egg
and he and his partner wait
amongst the crowd.
For him and his cousin,
fatherhood is a long time coming.
He feels a little movement
on the top of his feet.
Their chick -
tiny, bald and perfect.
Our new mother steps in,
and for the first time she feeds it.
Both parents will have to work hard
if the chick is to have
any chance of survival.
There are more dangers here
than mere cold and hunger.
Our king and his mate
are now committed to a way of life.
One which means that they will
rarely be together for long.
It's his turn to go,
and hers to stay.
She will protect and feed
their chick until he returns.
For the first time in a long time,
he gets to leave Penguin City...
..to swim, fish and eat.
He is starving.
He can barely contain himself.
His cousin has not been so lucky.
His egg has remained silent.
Only when he dares to
look at it closely
does he see that he has been
sitting on a stone all this time.
He and the other cousin
might as well go fishing too.
They meet our king on the shoreline.
A crowd is gathering.
Our trio joins the party.
They all assemble in the shallows
to set out hunting as a pack,
just as they did
in their bachelor days.
But so much splashing
attracts attention.
Though our king can't see it,
there's something in the water.
It's a leopard seal.
Our king has had
a very narrow escape.
He and the others
bolt for the open sea.
Four days have passed
since its father left,
and the chick is still
begging for more fish.
It still has only the thinnest
covering of feathers
and can easily become cold.
It's growing, though, and fast.
The skua is still prowling,
but it won't do more than look,
not with Mum right there.
The chick has no sense of danger.
It's just inquisitive.
And it doesn't yet know
what its wings are for.
And while the albatross,
the biggest bird of them all,
soars far above them, it heads
back beneath its mother for warmth.
The albatross is setting out
on a hunting trip of its own.
It too has a chick to feed.
Already bigger than
a fully grown king,
waiting while its father
heads far out to sea.
Here, our one-time bachelor
is working hard.
Nothing beats diving at dusk.
A shoal of glowing lantern fish
rises as if to meet him.
It's been two weeks
since our king left.
Our chick begs for more
of what little food remains
in its mother's stomach.
The mother can't carry on like this
for ever.
If her partner doesn't come soon,
she will have to make
a terrible choice.
Either she or the chick
will starve.
But the fishing party
is on its way back.
It's an orca - a killer whale.
If it catches them,
it will rip them to pieces.
That was close.
If the orca had spotted them
just a little further out to sea,
well, Penguin City would have
three fewer penguins.
(SEALS GROWL)
But in their haste to get ashore,
they have landed at the wrong end
of the beach.
All the king wants to do
is to get back to his partner
and feed his chick.
But there is new trouble.
Elephant seals.
At least 20 of them.
60 tonnes of blubber and flatulence.
And they don't like being disturbed.
Well, they can't go back.
They can't go round.
The only option
is to find a way through.
Our king seizes the moment
and leads a death-or-glory charge.
(SEAL BREAKS WIND)
Bad idea.
(SEAL GROWLS)
(GROWLING)
It's time to regroup.
Perhaps a more stealthy approach
would be better.
Not that way.
(GROWLING)
Or that way.
(SEAL BREAKS WIND)
Our king spots his chance.
He leads his cousins through.
A city full of penguins,
each with its own cry.
Despite this,
our king can call right across them
and still hear the answer
he's hoping for.
(PENGUIN CALLS)
(HIGH-PITCHED CALL)
In the time he's spent away,
his chick has changed
almost beyond recognition.
For the first time,
he can take over.
Another step towards
becoming a true king.
Between them, these two
will do everything they can
to keep their chick from hunger.
For our cousins, the homecoming
has been rather different.
They watch how their old companion
is taking to his new role as father.
It seems every male around them
has made the same step.
So they're both a little lost.
This one really wants a chick.
That overpowering desire
has never left him.
As the urge grows,
he looks for any small chick
that he might take as his own.
Best for the cousins to leave
until it all blows over.
Our couple must prepare their chick
for the first great test
of its life.
They're using these short summer
months to build up its strength.
It has a layer of fat
and a thick coat.
And it will need both
when the weather worsens.
But it will need something else
too...
..toughness.
It will have to stand and endure
whatever the weather.
And it will only learn that
by being left on its own.
(CHICK CRIES OUT)
(CRIES INTENSIFY)
They can hear its cries
above the noise of the city,
but this is what they have to do.
And so their chick goes from being
the centre of its parents' world
to become just one amongst many
in a huge penguin creche.
Both go fishing now.
Their chick needs ever more food.
For the best chance of success,
as soon as they reach open water,
they will head out
in different directions.
The dangers of the ocean await them
once again.
Their chick can only hope
that its parents make it back.
The creche in Penguin City is
the largest on earth.
There are thousands here.
With its parents gone,
our chick's best option
is to join in with the others.
They're all the same age
and all abandoned.
For now, this will be
our chick's home.
While our king has gone out to sea,
his cousins have stayed
close to the shore.
They have only themselves
to look after.
They only need a place to go while
the fuss in Penguin City dies down.
They've never landed on this beach
before
and they're met with a sound
they don't recognise.
(CHITTERING)
This is another city.
Different penguins, different rules.
This is the home...
of the Macaronis.
They live life at a faster pace.
They're a quarrelsome lot.
If the cousins were expecting
a welcome...
they've got it wrong.
And for the second time
they have to beat a hasty retreat.
The next bay along was once packed
with fur seals.
Now, only the dead
and the fatally weak remain.
It wasn't the skuas that did this,
but something much worse.
Giant petrels.
They aren't scavengers,
they're killers.
When giant petrels feed, all they
leave behind is skin and bone.
Our cousins have seen enough.
They're heading straight back
to Penguin City.
If the petrels find any creature
that is weak or vulnerable,
any chick that's not
properly protected...
..they will attack it.
Autumn. Snow hits the island.
This is something
our chick has never known.
Not so long ago
its mother kept it warm.
Now, she is gone, and a coat of down
is hardly a substitute.
And there are some things
against which it offers
no protection at all.
Over on the edge of the city, two
birds our chick doesn't recognise.
It needs its parents.
Our mother is labouring away,
catching fish.
But she's not finding many
that are suitable for penguins.
She has no choice,
she must keep going.
From out of the crowd,
two familiar figures...
..our cousins.
In spite of everything,
they're welcome here.
There are dozens of chicks
who need protecting.
Penguins rely on
strength in numbers.
No such comfort for our king
out at sea.
(THUNDER)
He's trying to head home,
but a storm overtakes him.
He's alone, and the ocean is
battering him.
(GULLS SCREECH)
Back on the beach, the cousins are
in no mood to tolerate a skua.
They have greater dangers
to deal with.
The few adults still here
patrol the edges of the creche.
But they can't be everywhere.
Our king's two cousins
take up their posts.
There are petrels on all sides.
At first they're just probing,
seeing how vigorously the adults
will defend their charges.
Then they start to attack.
Nothing can stop them.
And without its parents,
our chick is easy prey.
Free of the storm,
our king seizes his chance
and strikes out for a home.
The petrels are now amongst
the chicks.
Now they can do as they please.
Our king is nearing the shore.
He can see the city ahead of him.
But the petrels are now in
our chick's part of the creche.
The killers see no need to rush.
This one has picked its next target.
It wants our chick.
(CHICK SCREECHES)
Our king spurs his cousins
into action.
Together, they rally the other
penguins to fight back.
Our king feeds his youngster.
And when it begs again,
he feeds it again.
Leaving the chick has tested it.
Our king has been tested too...
and has proved himself.
But something is missing.
There are only two of them here.
There should be three.
Where is his mate?
She is on her way back.
The sea is calm.
Calm enough for her
to swim with ease.
Calm enough too for her
to spot a tell-tale fin.
Our king waits...
..but all there is now for him...
..is his chick...
..and a question.
How can he possibly raise his
youngster to adulthood...
..on his own?
Winter. The macaronis feel it
and start to leave.
And when the other creatures
on the island see them going,
they know it's time for them
to start leaving, too.
The last few seals
will soon be gone,
but Penguin City will remain.
Our king must bring his youngster
through the harshest of times.
It will be months before it can
go to sea and fish for itself.
Our king feeds the youngster
when he can, with what he can.
He can only hunt for short periods
but he must do so whenever possible,
or his chick will starve.
They must battle
both hunger and the cold.
In the depths of winter,
the king penguins stand alone.
This is the time
when many parents fail.
And many chicks fall.
It's the last and toughest leg
of our king's journey.
It takes four months
until at last the weather eases.
A trace of green returns...
..and the melting snow
runs down to the sea.
The macaronis swarm back
onto the land,
bringing the spring with them.
The young albatross, now ten months
old, takes its first flight.
Slowly, the whole island
is coming back to life.
The same rituals...
..the same faces.
And in Penguin City...
..our youngster is alive and well.
Our king still has
to feed his youngster,
even though it's now
almost a year old,
and it's almost as tall as he is.
He already knows about
the next irksome phase.
The flapping.
The itching.
There's nothing
he can do to help with this.
Our youngster joins our king
and his cousins
looking recognisably penguin.
Its first adult feathers.
They ARE waterproof.
They don't quite have
the colours yet.
The beak will remain black
for a while.
But it will do.
All its life so far
has been spent on land,
but now the sea beckons.
Our youngster
can now fend for itself.
HE has to watch his chick leave.
He looks on as, for the first time,
his youngster meets the water.
It's more than a year
since our king, as a bachelor,
stepped through these waves to find
his mate and father his chick.
Up until this moment,
he has protected it.
He hunted for it.
And fed it throughout the winter.
Now his youngster can face
the ocean alone.
This is the life he raised it for.
And when it's gone,
his journey is complete.
He has found his place
in Penguin City
as one of its true kings.