Penguin Island (2010–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Rocky Finds Love at Last - full transcript
There's a very special island off
the south coast of Australia,
where thousands of penguins
come to breed.
And thousands of people
come to watch.
Unique to this corner of our planet,
the smallest of all penguin species,
the Little Penguin, is battling
to survive in a human world.
But a dedicated team of scientists
has sworn to guard them
from people, predators...
..and this year, from the hottest
summer since records began.
As starving chicks
struggle to hang on,
and their parents scour the oceans
for a dwindling supply of fish,
what will it take to protect
these pocket-sized creatures?
This week, a late-born penguin chick
must grow up quickly or starve.
A new device reveals the
penguins' amazing underwater life.
And a problem patient
in the hospital on Penguin Island.
He's very lively, this guy.
He's just attacking everything.
A short waddle up
from the parade beach
is a popular hangout
known as the Penguin Cafe.
For the entire summer breeding
season, this amorous little penguin,
Rocky, has been trying to
find himself a mate...
..but somehow every female
seems to pass him by.
Just when he thinks he's in luck,
some bigger bloke muscles in.
For Rocky, it's been a
long summer without rain.
Now Jess, a two-year-old female,
has caught his eye,
and he seems to have caught hers.
For the first time
in his young life,
it looks like Rocky
is going to be a dad.
Only problem, it's very late in the
season to be starting a new family.
A month later and the couple waits
for two precious eggs to hatch.
The neighborhood around them
has grown quiet.
The neighborhood around them
has grown quiet.
Most penguin chicks have
grown up and gone to sea,
or will soon be leaving,
Most penguin chicks have
grown up and gone to sea,
or will soon be leaving,
like Spike's family next door.
Spike's kids are almost big enough
to move out.
But he still insists
on early bedtime.
He and his missus
will soon be empty-nesters,
while Rocky's chicks
haven't even hatched yet.
Just before dawn,
the bugle call goes out.
Time for any remaining adults to
depart for the day's fishing trip.
It's safest to travel in groups,
so everyone leaves together.
Today it's Rocky's turn to go and
feed up, while Jess minds the eggs.
Both parents need to eat heaps
if they're going to
support two new chicks.
Little Penguins always
go to sea before sunrise.
In daylight,
birds of prey maintain a kill zone
right near the shoreline.
Rocky makes it to the sea
before dawn.
Back at the Penguin Cafe, most
nestboxes are empty during the day.
Just Spike's chubby chicks,
home alone in box 133...
..and Jess, keeping the
eggs warm in box 65.
Most penguins lay just one
clutch of two eggs each year,
but this is Jess' second attempt.
Her first chicks died, so she's
trying again with a new partner.
It's a high-risk strategy.
There's very little time to raise
the chicks before the annual molt.
That's the time
at the end of each summer
when all penguins must stop raising
chicks and grow new feathers.
Meanwhile, Rocky's
out at sea, feeding up
for his impending fatherhood.
He's not the only one
looking for food today.
Warm currents have brought
schools of fish to the surface.
Australian fur seals
cash in while the going's good.
So too do these hungry
Australasian gannets.
Together they herd bait fish
from above the sea surface,
then torpedo in at high speed
to grab them.
Underwater for a few seconds only,
they gobble their prey down whole,
before they resurface.
A powerful plunge diver,
it's no bird to mess with.
So this one's being
brought into the hospital with
plenty of homemade gannet-proofing.
He's very lively, this guy.
Believe it or not,
this is only a juvenile gannet,
found abandoned and hungry
on a nearby beach.
The penguin patients are not so sure
about sharing their pool
with a big gawky bird.
This grumpy gannet can't fly yet.
He'll starve
without a mum to feed him.
But wildlife carer, Marg Healy,
can't help him while
he's being all aggro.
He's very freaky, isn't he? The most
aggressive one I've had so far.
Yeah, yeah.
I think we should get out of here.
He's looking absolutely freaked.
He's just attacking everything.
Tonight we'll let him settle,
not hassle him at all and then
harass him tomorrow to feed him
and try and teach him
to take fish from my hand.
Some gannets are nice,
some gannets are killers,
and unfortunately this one
sounds like he'd like to kill us.
Early evening at
the tourist centre...
..and there's an exciting
development at the Penguin Cafe.
After 35 long days of incubation,
Jess's first chick
hatched this afternoon.
The fluff ball is just hours old.
Right now,
he's totally blind and helpless.
Jess's second egg
is also showing signs of life.
Penguin hatchlings have a tiny bump
on their beaks called an egg tooth,
to help them cut their way out.
Once free, their special
opening tool disappears for good.
For Jess, the journey to parenthood
has been plagued by discomfort.
Stuck in her nestbox, minding eggs,
she can't go to sea
and wash off parasites, like ticks.
Nor can she fish for her young.
Rocky must bring home food supplies
tonight, otherwise this little thing
won't last the week.
Back at the hospital,
it's time for breakfast
for that juvenile gannet...
..and Ranger Jarvis is going to get
a lesson in feeding large sea birds.
God, you're quick!
First, when holding a gannet
between your legs, always keep
the beak pointing away from you.
Second, use welding gloves
if available.
Don't relax. He knows.
Only problem, this young bird
is used to a breakfast
pre-digested by his mother,
not these defrosted sardines.
Oh, just a bit crooked.
I just want him to open
his mouth just a bit more.
God, you're a silly gannet!
OK, eat it.
The gannet just doesn't get it.
He's not leaving hospital
till he's put on some weight.
What happens if you relax your grip?
Oh!
Come on, sweetheart.
Swallow it!
That's it, good boy!
I do think we're getting somewhere.
That's eight, and we're going for
ten if possible. 20 would be good.
20 would be getting weight on,
ten will keep him alive.
Marg's next trick,
a home-made gannet launching device
for getting him into the water,
so he can start behaving
like a real sea bird.
Keep going. Keep going.
Keep going.
Ha!
But no time for technology today.
Silly bird. You should have
just walked up the ramp.
He's got no co-ordination.
The gannet seems to be
taking to the aquatic life,
for the moment at least.
Rocky is still not home.
A newborn chick can last two days
at most without food.
24 hours have already passed,
and Jess's chick is very hungry.
And now,
her other chick has nearly hatched,
a second beak for her to feed.
Hatchlings cut a line around
the widest part of the egg.
It's like opening a can of beans
to make the largest escape hatch.
Jess does her best
to help it into the world.
Her second chick
has finally hatched,
but its battle for life
has only just begun.
The first of the day's fishing party
are returning to the cafe.
Will Rocky be among them?
The big chicks at box 133
are getting ready for dinner.
Spike is one of the first dads home.
He gives his boys the meal
they've been hanging out for.
But the news is less good
for the tiny newborns next door.
Three hours later,
and their father still isn't home.
There'll be no dinner tonight.
Why has Rocky been
out at sea for so long?
The Phillip Island scientists
want to find out,
and they've got a collection of hi
tech tracking devices to help them.
They've discovered that penguins
swim an average of about
30 miles a day in search of fish,
but won't return home till
their bellies are full.
Rocky must be having trouble
finding food.
Zoologist Andre Chiaradia
attaches a tiny computerized logging
device to an unsuspecting penguin.
So this tiny little computer,
it's very sophisticated,
with lots of sensors inside,
gives a lot of information,
what the birds are doing at sea.
So, how often they dive,
how deep they dive,
and how often they find food.
Data uploaded from these
tiny gadgets
shows that penguins like Rocky
dive up to 70 meters
on a single lungful of air,
as many as 1,300 times a day.
Humans would need special equipment
to survive such relentless
pressure change.
Penguins adjust their dive depth
according to the temperature
of the water,
because that determines
the type of food available -
anchovies, squid,
or baby barracuda.
The little penguin even has
an in-built desalination plant,
to digest the salt water
in whatever it eats.
Once loaded up with food,
they form up in rafts,
ready to come ashore when it's dark.
Visual clues guide them home,
like underwater contours,
and even the lighting towers
on the parade beach.
First to set foot ashore,
after three days away,
is none other than Rocky.
And there's a welcoming
committee waiting for him,
but he's still got a 600 yard trek
to get home to his family.
Rocky is struggling to keep up.
His belly is fit to burst.
He can barely squeeze through the
fence, the shortcut to his nestbox.
He finds Jess waiting
outside their home.
But sadly, Rocky is too late
for their first chick.
Three days without food
was just too much.
Rocky and Jess must now put
all their effort, and their fish,
into keeping the second infant alive
Her chances of survival
have just increased dramatically
with the death of her brother.
It's unusual for penguins,
but Rocky and Jess appear
to be comforting each other
after their loss.
Three weeks fly by
on Phillip Island.
It's now early March.
Well-fed penguins, once admitted to
hospital, starving or heat-stressed,
now laze in the pool
after a long lunch.
The place is beginning
to look like a Club Med.
As for that adolescent gannet,
he's getting room service breakfast
every day,
and, at last,
he's putting on weight.
He's still not very nice
to his personal dietician though!
You have to go in the pool.
Now, time for some hydrotherapy.
Food that dries on feathers
spoils waterproofing,
so Marg's patient gets a shower
in the penguin plunge pool.
Marg's hosing also forces him
to limber up his wings,
and prepare for flight.
Now three weeks old, Tilda,
that's Rocky and Jess's
sole surviving chick,
is big enough
to be left home alone.
Both parents out fishing means
it's double helpings tonight...
..but she's running out of summer.
Her parents
will soon start molting,
then they won't be able
to feed Tilda at all.
Next door, box 133 is now empty.
Spike's chicks have already grown up
and gone to sea.
PENGUIN CALLS
The following morning,
there's a right old racket
at the Penguin Cafe.
It's Spike!
Instead of spending the day at sea,
or sleeping in his box, he's camping
out in the open behind a tree.
Ranger Beau Farnley has been
called in to see what
all the kerfuffle is about.
We've just got a penguin here
that's been acting a bit strange,
coming out all day.
We'll just grab him, have a quick
look, and see if he's OK.
PENGUIN CALLS ANGRILY
But this fella is in no mood
to be examined.
I don't think there's anything too
wrong with him. He seems pretty good.
Yeah, he's pretty...pretty vigorous!
He's had a good nip at me,
and he's trying to get away, so...
All right, all right.
OK, I'll let you go.
All right, I might just put him back,
I think.
The feathers on the ground
give the game away.
Spike has started molting,
and he couldn't have chosen a more
uncomfortable place to do it.
Confined on land, unable to swim
or feed, penguins stay tucked
out of sight during early autumn.
It's a time when, frankly,
they're not looking their best.
I guess some that don't have
a good burrow to molt in,
they'll get under a tree for three
weeks, and try and deal with having
to shed all your feathers, and...
I guess it'd be like
losing all your hair once a year,
then having to regrow it.
Nothing wrong with Spike.
He just needs some space right now.
Adults returning from the sea
are visibly bigger.
They're piling on the fat reserves
before they're stuck on land
growing their new winter wardrobe.
The moment Tilda hears movement
outside the nestbox, she starts
her high-pitched squeaking.
PENGUIN SQUEAKS
Rocky recognizes
his chick's unique call.
She's feeding well,
and has reached 300 grams,
but there's a rush on
to fatten her up fast.
Jess has also had
a successful day out fishing.
PENGUIN CALLS
She calls out to let them know
she's on her way with seconds.
Rocky leaves Tilda to her mum.
Rocky's beginning to scratch
more than usual.
He too is about to undergo
an unstoppable transformation.
Normally, he can recondition his
feathers with a liquid wax secreted
from a preen gland near his tail.
But this is different.
His old feathers will
soon start to fall out,
and then he'll be housebound.
Time's running out for Jess too.
When her hormones tell her it's time
to shed feathers, they'll also tell
her to stop feeding her own chick.
For little Tilda,
one thing is certain.
If her parents abandon her now,
she has no hope of surviving.
After weeks of high-protein diet,
and the full spa treatment,
the gannet is now a robust
three kilos,
and more than ready
to learn to fish for himself.
He's been absolutely
insanely chasing the penguins
around the pool every feed.
He's actually being a bit mean
cos the chicks don't know to get
away from him, so he's pecking them,
which isn't a nice thing.
Admittedly, very gently pecking.
He's not breaking skin,
which he would with me.
So he's just playing, but he's
sort of fractious and energetic.
It's time to let the gannet go.
Look, he's a really good weight,
he's been doing
all the right things water-wise,
and there's just no point
in keeping a healthy gannet.
Sorry, darling.
You're a bit over me, aren't you?
Come on.
Oh, don't do that.
There's a boy!
One final indignity, a trip
to the beach in a plastic box
that smells of penguins!
Marg tries to make it as quick
and painless as she can.
Four months old, it's this
young gannet's first chance to fly.
Don't go that way.
Oh, that was a bit silly.
I wanted him to go out in the ocean,
so he could actually fly off the
water, rather than have to walk.
What are you doing?
You go back that way.
Go on.
It's not looking good.
Will Marg's pre-flight training
pay off?
Go on. Off you go.
At last, he works out
what those big wings are for.
Then, there's no going back.
Bye.
Next week, in the final episode,
work begins to remove all remaining
houses from the colony.
No more holidays among the penguins,
and after the toughest ever
season on the island,
little Tilda must choose.
Wait for her parents to return,
or brave it alone
out in the great Southern Ocean?
the south coast of Australia,
where thousands of penguins
come to breed.
And thousands of people
come to watch.
Unique to this corner of our planet,
the smallest of all penguin species,
the Little Penguin, is battling
to survive in a human world.
But a dedicated team of scientists
has sworn to guard them
from people, predators...
..and this year, from the hottest
summer since records began.
As starving chicks
struggle to hang on,
and their parents scour the oceans
for a dwindling supply of fish,
what will it take to protect
these pocket-sized creatures?
This week, a late-born penguin chick
must grow up quickly or starve.
A new device reveals the
penguins' amazing underwater life.
And a problem patient
in the hospital on Penguin Island.
He's very lively, this guy.
He's just attacking everything.
A short waddle up
from the parade beach
is a popular hangout
known as the Penguin Cafe.
For the entire summer breeding
season, this amorous little penguin,
Rocky, has been trying to
find himself a mate...
..but somehow every female
seems to pass him by.
Just when he thinks he's in luck,
some bigger bloke muscles in.
For Rocky, it's been a
long summer without rain.
Now Jess, a two-year-old female,
has caught his eye,
and he seems to have caught hers.
For the first time
in his young life,
it looks like Rocky
is going to be a dad.
Only problem, it's very late in the
season to be starting a new family.
A month later and the couple waits
for two precious eggs to hatch.
The neighborhood around them
has grown quiet.
The neighborhood around them
has grown quiet.
Most penguin chicks have
grown up and gone to sea,
or will soon be leaving,
Most penguin chicks have
grown up and gone to sea,
or will soon be leaving,
like Spike's family next door.
Spike's kids are almost big enough
to move out.
But he still insists
on early bedtime.
He and his missus
will soon be empty-nesters,
while Rocky's chicks
haven't even hatched yet.
Just before dawn,
the bugle call goes out.
Time for any remaining adults to
depart for the day's fishing trip.
It's safest to travel in groups,
so everyone leaves together.
Today it's Rocky's turn to go and
feed up, while Jess minds the eggs.
Both parents need to eat heaps
if they're going to
support two new chicks.
Little Penguins always
go to sea before sunrise.
In daylight,
birds of prey maintain a kill zone
right near the shoreline.
Rocky makes it to the sea
before dawn.
Back at the Penguin Cafe, most
nestboxes are empty during the day.
Just Spike's chubby chicks,
home alone in box 133...
..and Jess, keeping the
eggs warm in box 65.
Most penguins lay just one
clutch of two eggs each year,
but this is Jess' second attempt.
Her first chicks died, so she's
trying again with a new partner.
It's a high-risk strategy.
There's very little time to raise
the chicks before the annual molt.
That's the time
at the end of each summer
when all penguins must stop raising
chicks and grow new feathers.
Meanwhile, Rocky's
out at sea, feeding up
for his impending fatherhood.
He's not the only one
looking for food today.
Warm currents have brought
schools of fish to the surface.
Australian fur seals
cash in while the going's good.
So too do these hungry
Australasian gannets.
Together they herd bait fish
from above the sea surface,
then torpedo in at high speed
to grab them.
Underwater for a few seconds only,
they gobble their prey down whole,
before they resurface.
A powerful plunge diver,
it's no bird to mess with.
So this one's being
brought into the hospital with
plenty of homemade gannet-proofing.
He's very lively, this guy.
Believe it or not,
this is only a juvenile gannet,
found abandoned and hungry
on a nearby beach.
The penguin patients are not so sure
about sharing their pool
with a big gawky bird.
This grumpy gannet can't fly yet.
He'll starve
without a mum to feed him.
But wildlife carer, Marg Healy,
can't help him while
he's being all aggro.
He's very freaky, isn't he? The most
aggressive one I've had so far.
Yeah, yeah.
I think we should get out of here.
He's looking absolutely freaked.
He's just attacking everything.
Tonight we'll let him settle,
not hassle him at all and then
harass him tomorrow to feed him
and try and teach him
to take fish from my hand.
Some gannets are nice,
some gannets are killers,
and unfortunately this one
sounds like he'd like to kill us.
Early evening at
the tourist centre...
..and there's an exciting
development at the Penguin Cafe.
After 35 long days of incubation,
Jess's first chick
hatched this afternoon.
The fluff ball is just hours old.
Right now,
he's totally blind and helpless.
Jess's second egg
is also showing signs of life.
Penguin hatchlings have a tiny bump
on their beaks called an egg tooth,
to help them cut their way out.
Once free, their special
opening tool disappears for good.
For Jess, the journey to parenthood
has been plagued by discomfort.
Stuck in her nestbox, minding eggs,
she can't go to sea
and wash off parasites, like ticks.
Nor can she fish for her young.
Rocky must bring home food supplies
tonight, otherwise this little thing
won't last the week.
Back at the hospital,
it's time for breakfast
for that juvenile gannet...
..and Ranger Jarvis is going to get
a lesson in feeding large sea birds.
God, you're quick!
First, when holding a gannet
between your legs, always keep
the beak pointing away from you.
Second, use welding gloves
if available.
Don't relax. He knows.
Only problem, this young bird
is used to a breakfast
pre-digested by his mother,
not these defrosted sardines.
Oh, just a bit crooked.
I just want him to open
his mouth just a bit more.
God, you're a silly gannet!
OK, eat it.
The gannet just doesn't get it.
He's not leaving hospital
till he's put on some weight.
What happens if you relax your grip?
Oh!
Come on, sweetheart.
Swallow it!
That's it, good boy!
I do think we're getting somewhere.
That's eight, and we're going for
ten if possible. 20 would be good.
20 would be getting weight on,
ten will keep him alive.
Marg's next trick,
a home-made gannet launching device
for getting him into the water,
so he can start behaving
like a real sea bird.
Keep going. Keep going.
Keep going.
Ha!
But no time for technology today.
Silly bird. You should have
just walked up the ramp.
He's got no co-ordination.
The gannet seems to be
taking to the aquatic life,
for the moment at least.
Rocky is still not home.
A newborn chick can last two days
at most without food.
24 hours have already passed,
and Jess's chick is very hungry.
And now,
her other chick has nearly hatched,
a second beak for her to feed.
Hatchlings cut a line around
the widest part of the egg.
It's like opening a can of beans
to make the largest escape hatch.
Jess does her best
to help it into the world.
Her second chick
has finally hatched,
but its battle for life
has only just begun.
The first of the day's fishing party
are returning to the cafe.
Will Rocky be among them?
The big chicks at box 133
are getting ready for dinner.
Spike is one of the first dads home.
He gives his boys the meal
they've been hanging out for.
But the news is less good
for the tiny newborns next door.
Three hours later,
and their father still isn't home.
There'll be no dinner tonight.
Why has Rocky been
out at sea for so long?
The Phillip Island scientists
want to find out,
and they've got a collection of hi
tech tracking devices to help them.
They've discovered that penguins
swim an average of about
30 miles a day in search of fish,
but won't return home till
their bellies are full.
Rocky must be having trouble
finding food.
Zoologist Andre Chiaradia
attaches a tiny computerized logging
device to an unsuspecting penguin.
So this tiny little computer,
it's very sophisticated,
with lots of sensors inside,
gives a lot of information,
what the birds are doing at sea.
So, how often they dive,
how deep they dive,
and how often they find food.
Data uploaded from these
tiny gadgets
shows that penguins like Rocky
dive up to 70 meters
on a single lungful of air,
as many as 1,300 times a day.
Humans would need special equipment
to survive such relentless
pressure change.
Penguins adjust their dive depth
according to the temperature
of the water,
because that determines
the type of food available -
anchovies, squid,
or baby barracuda.
The little penguin even has
an in-built desalination plant,
to digest the salt water
in whatever it eats.
Once loaded up with food,
they form up in rafts,
ready to come ashore when it's dark.
Visual clues guide them home,
like underwater contours,
and even the lighting towers
on the parade beach.
First to set foot ashore,
after three days away,
is none other than Rocky.
And there's a welcoming
committee waiting for him,
but he's still got a 600 yard trek
to get home to his family.
Rocky is struggling to keep up.
His belly is fit to burst.
He can barely squeeze through the
fence, the shortcut to his nestbox.
He finds Jess waiting
outside their home.
But sadly, Rocky is too late
for their first chick.
Three days without food
was just too much.
Rocky and Jess must now put
all their effort, and their fish,
into keeping the second infant alive
Her chances of survival
have just increased dramatically
with the death of her brother.
It's unusual for penguins,
but Rocky and Jess appear
to be comforting each other
after their loss.
Three weeks fly by
on Phillip Island.
It's now early March.
Well-fed penguins, once admitted to
hospital, starving or heat-stressed,
now laze in the pool
after a long lunch.
The place is beginning
to look like a Club Med.
As for that adolescent gannet,
he's getting room service breakfast
every day,
and, at last,
he's putting on weight.
He's still not very nice
to his personal dietician though!
You have to go in the pool.
Now, time for some hydrotherapy.
Food that dries on feathers
spoils waterproofing,
so Marg's patient gets a shower
in the penguin plunge pool.
Marg's hosing also forces him
to limber up his wings,
and prepare for flight.
Now three weeks old, Tilda,
that's Rocky and Jess's
sole surviving chick,
is big enough
to be left home alone.
Both parents out fishing means
it's double helpings tonight...
..but she's running out of summer.
Her parents
will soon start molting,
then they won't be able
to feed Tilda at all.
Next door, box 133 is now empty.
Spike's chicks have already grown up
and gone to sea.
PENGUIN CALLS
The following morning,
there's a right old racket
at the Penguin Cafe.
It's Spike!
Instead of spending the day at sea,
or sleeping in his box, he's camping
out in the open behind a tree.
Ranger Beau Farnley has been
called in to see what
all the kerfuffle is about.
We've just got a penguin here
that's been acting a bit strange,
coming out all day.
We'll just grab him, have a quick
look, and see if he's OK.
PENGUIN CALLS ANGRILY
But this fella is in no mood
to be examined.
I don't think there's anything too
wrong with him. He seems pretty good.
Yeah, he's pretty...pretty vigorous!
He's had a good nip at me,
and he's trying to get away, so...
All right, all right.
OK, I'll let you go.
All right, I might just put him back,
I think.
The feathers on the ground
give the game away.
Spike has started molting,
and he couldn't have chosen a more
uncomfortable place to do it.
Confined on land, unable to swim
or feed, penguins stay tucked
out of sight during early autumn.
It's a time when, frankly,
they're not looking their best.
I guess some that don't have
a good burrow to molt in,
they'll get under a tree for three
weeks, and try and deal with having
to shed all your feathers, and...
I guess it'd be like
losing all your hair once a year,
then having to regrow it.
Nothing wrong with Spike.
He just needs some space right now.
Adults returning from the sea
are visibly bigger.
They're piling on the fat reserves
before they're stuck on land
growing their new winter wardrobe.
The moment Tilda hears movement
outside the nestbox, she starts
her high-pitched squeaking.
PENGUIN SQUEAKS
Rocky recognizes
his chick's unique call.
She's feeding well,
and has reached 300 grams,
but there's a rush on
to fatten her up fast.
Jess has also had
a successful day out fishing.
PENGUIN CALLS
She calls out to let them know
she's on her way with seconds.
Rocky leaves Tilda to her mum.
Rocky's beginning to scratch
more than usual.
He too is about to undergo
an unstoppable transformation.
Normally, he can recondition his
feathers with a liquid wax secreted
from a preen gland near his tail.
But this is different.
His old feathers will
soon start to fall out,
and then he'll be housebound.
Time's running out for Jess too.
When her hormones tell her it's time
to shed feathers, they'll also tell
her to stop feeding her own chick.
For little Tilda,
one thing is certain.
If her parents abandon her now,
she has no hope of surviving.
After weeks of high-protein diet,
and the full spa treatment,
the gannet is now a robust
three kilos,
and more than ready
to learn to fish for himself.
He's been absolutely
insanely chasing the penguins
around the pool every feed.
He's actually being a bit mean
cos the chicks don't know to get
away from him, so he's pecking them,
which isn't a nice thing.
Admittedly, very gently pecking.
He's not breaking skin,
which he would with me.
So he's just playing, but he's
sort of fractious and energetic.
It's time to let the gannet go.
Look, he's a really good weight,
he's been doing
all the right things water-wise,
and there's just no point
in keeping a healthy gannet.
Sorry, darling.
You're a bit over me, aren't you?
Come on.
Oh, don't do that.
There's a boy!
One final indignity, a trip
to the beach in a plastic box
that smells of penguins!
Marg tries to make it as quick
and painless as she can.
Four months old, it's this
young gannet's first chance to fly.
Don't go that way.
Oh, that was a bit silly.
I wanted him to go out in the ocean,
so he could actually fly off the
water, rather than have to walk.
What are you doing?
You go back that way.
Go on.
It's not looking good.
Will Marg's pre-flight training
pay off?
Go on. Off you go.
At last, he works out
what those big wings are for.
Then, there's no going back.
Bye.
Next week, in the final episode,
work begins to remove all remaining
houses from the colony.
No more holidays among the penguins,
and after the toughest ever
season on the island,
little Tilda must choose.
Wait for her parents to return,
or brave it alone
out in the great Southern Ocean?