[Narrator] 65 million years ago when the world
was a different place,
one brave bird gave up wings
for flippers and has never looked back...
18 species of penguin
have gone on to become masters
of sea and land.
[squawking]
Now from the greatest penguin colonies on
earth new science reveals...
there's more to them than we ever imagined.
-Here's good, here's good.
[Narrator] Their "bird brains" might be brilliant.
-No way, they're working as a team!
That's one of the best things I've ever
seen in nature.
[Narrator] Bravery, their superpower.
And here in Antarctica...
-Here we go....
[wind howling]
[Narrator] The coldest place on earth...
-Good luck little penguins!
[Narrator] As the emperor penguins' world melts
beneath their feet...
[Bertie] Come on little chick.
[Narrator] The untold story of a new generation
of chicks reveals how their bonds with
family, and friends...
-Surely they're not thinking of going off there!
[Narrator] ...shape their destiny.
♪ [ ♪ dramatic music playing]
[wind howling]
♪ [ ♪ uplifting music playing]
[Narrator] Every year when winter begins,
the sea around Antarctica freezes over
creating a vast platform of ice.
Here, 20,000 emperor penguins come ashore
to raise a family.
♪ [ ♪ peaceful music playing]
Emperor chicks are the only animals who grow up
through the coldest, darkest winter on the planet.
But that's just the beginning of their story...
[chirping]
[squawking]
Winter's over and this chick is now 5 months old.
Her parents have kept her safe and well-fed,
but now they must leave,
returning to the ocean to eat and gain strength,
to do it all again,
next year.
National Geographic Explorer
and award-winning cinematographer,
Bertie Gregory,
is living with the colony and documenting how
this year's chicks will face this defining milestone.
[Bertie] Oh yum!
Make the most of that meal buddy,
cause the next one you're going to have to get yourself.
Poor chick.
I mean, imagine being fed your entire life by
Mom and Dad, and then all of a sudden, they say,
"Now we're going to stop,
and by the way your next meal is 30 miles that way,
in the middle of the ocean.
You're on your own."
[Narrator] She doesn't yet know they won't be coming back
but she seems to sense something's up.
[chirping]
[squawking]
[chirping]
Although she'll likely never see her parents again,
they've prepared her for this,
from the beginning.
[Bertie] It's the biggest moment in their young lives.
Together, they're going to have to figure out how
to get to the sea, how to hunt for themselves,
how to be a penguin.
And that's becoming harder every year.
Oh.
[chirping]
There's an absolute little tiddler just here.
[chirping]
It's teeny tiny, it's so much smaller
than the other chicks.
I'm actually surprised a chick that small has
been left alone, maybe his parents didn't make it
back from an earlier fishing trip.
And while he is very, very cute because he's so small
I'm really worried because there's a big storm that's
forecast to roll in, and he's so much more
vulnerable than the bigger chicks.
It makes my heart hurt.
[wind howling]
[squawking]
This wind's starting to crank up.
It is getting really cold.
I've lost that tiny little chick.
I don't know where it's gone.
[Narrator] Adults survive storms by huddling
together to keep warm.
But most are gone.
And the chicks are spread out,
rapidly losing body heat into the air.
They'll make it through if they remember,
they need to move and help each other.
[wind howling]
[cries]
[ ♪ uplifting music playing]
[Bertie]It's really interesting,
as this wind starts to build,
a lot of the chicks that before were just
kind of scattered around,
and as the wind builds,
they're all gravitating together.
[♪ uplifting music playing]
They're just like their parents,
the chicks are forming their very own huddle.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
I've spotted the teeny tiny little chick,
on his own on the edge of the group.
Come on little chick.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[chirping]
Well done.
Well, he's managed to get himself surrounded
by some bigger chicks.
His parents might have gone,
but his friends are standing by him.
[wind howling]
I just hope this rookie huddle is going
to be enough to keep them all alive.
[wind howling]
Yeah, this is getting dangerous for us now.
Good luck little penguins.
[wind howling]
[zipper]
Oh, I really hope that little chick's ok.
[wind howling]
[♪ uplifting music playing]
[Bertie] Oh no.
No.
Poor little thing.
Oh.
That is heartbreaking.
Looking at the size this one does look a little bigger
than that really small one.
Must have just been stuck out here alone.
Uh, it's just so sad not just for the chick but,
you know, the parents, the amount of effort that
goes into raising each of these chicks.
Oh.
[♪ somber music playing]
Oh, wow, well, that little chick sadly hasn't made it,
I'm very relieved that most of them have.
And together these chicks have overcome
that big challenge.
[chirping]
No way!
[laughs]
The little chick has made it through the storm,
what an absolute little trooper.
Those other, bigger chicks huddling around
the little one helped him get through.
Oh well done.
[♪ uplifting music playing]
[Narrator] But this isn't the only
relationship they'll rely on.
Bertie and the team are discovering the emperors'
entire existence depends on their ability
to forge connections...
and it all starts with their parents.
[♪ uplifting music playing]
At four years old this young empress
is done growing up.
Now she's back home and she's got nine months
to try and raise a family before the platform
of ice melts away again.
She's equipped for the challenge,
at four feet emperors are the tallest
and strongest penguins.
But her success depends on something deeper.
Emperors don't mate for life but she'll still have
to form one of the strongest bonds in nature.
And she's found someone with potential.
[squawking]
Like some songbirds,
emperors can produce two sounds at once.
[squawking]
Giving each a unique voice.
[squawking]
They're learning each other's to
show they're serious.
[squawking]
But emperor couples don't just communicate
with their voices.
They're playing copycat.
It's their way of saying, "You can count on me."
[♪ uplifting music playing]
The next stage of courtship is a little less, graceful.
In just two weeks,
they'll face the first big test of
their relationship.
[squawking]
[♪ upbeat music playing]
[Narrator] Raising chicks through the Antarctic winter is
so hard emperors only lay one egg a year,
the size of a grapefruit.
And in this society, it's the fathers who look
after them until they hatch.
Keeping the egg off the ice in a featherless patch
called a brood pouch.
But getting it from Mom to Dad tests their
collaboration and trust.
If the egg spends much more than 60 seconds on the ice,
the chick inside will die.
For the young empress,
there's still no sign of an egg...
But as the couple waits, the National Geographic
team captures behavior never filmed before.
A clue to how emperors master the handover.
They practice.
[♪ upbeat music playing]
It's a sign of their shared commitment to
getting this right,
if the real thing does arrive.
[squawking]
[♪ serene music playing]
[♪ uplifting music playing]
Her first egg.
It's time for Dad to step up so she can go eat.
He's got to read her body language.
That means, "I'm ready.
Like, now."
[♪ suspenseful music playing]
[♪ uplifting music playing]
Practice pays off.
[squawking]
The life of their firstborn is now in his hands...
feet.
She must trust him with their egg for two months
as she regains her strength at sea.
[squawking]
When she returns the resilience of their bond
will make or break their family's future.
Until then, he'll rely on a different alliance.
A ritual as ancient as the emperors themselves.
[wind howling]
[Narrator] For six weeks the father-to-be hasn't
eaten or even laid down to sleep,
protecting his precious egg,
but now they face their biggest challenge yet.
[wind howling]
As the wind rushes off the ice shelf onto the sea ice,
it accelerates to 120 miles an hour creating
what's known as katabatic storm.
[wind howling]
It's minus 54 degrees and there's only one way
he and his unborn chick will survive.
[squawking]
[wind howling]
He must join 5,000 other fathers in a huddle.
They've been practicing for this since they were chicks...
It's one of nature's greatest spectacles,
but we're just beginning to understand
its mysterious power.
They must stand as close together as possible with
only the tips of their feathers touching.
Each penguin's feathers act like insulation,
trapping in a layer of warm air.
If they press against each other that warmth is lost.
But if they stand just millimeters apart,
the heat is shared between them.
The middle can reach 99 degrees.
But it's the dynamics of the huddle that reveal
an extraordinary truth about emperor society.
The fathers move in waves
and they're not pushing to the center
to keep themselves alive.
They're shuffling away...
step by step,
so even late arrivals,
like Dad get their turn in the warmth.
[♪ uplifting music playing]
Because each takes only what they need,
they all win.
It means these dads might keep a whole generation
alive by sharing through the coldest,
darkest winter on the planet.
[♪ serene music playing]
With the help of the brotherhood,
the young emperor has made it through the winter...
[♪ peaceful music playing]
And so has his daughter.
She could fit in a teacup.
[screeching]
With a voice that would shatter one.
[screeching]
She needs food that only her mother can deliver.
[distant squawking]
[♪ upbeat music playing]
Exactly how is still a mystery,
but after around two months at sea,
a hormonal change tells the emperor mothers
it's time to come home.
They return with a meal within just days of
their chicks hatching.
[screeching]
[distant squawking]
A voice he knows...
[squawking]
[distant squawking]
...hers.
[squawking]
But can she identify his?
[squawking]
She has the rare ability to filter out the cacophony
of 20,000 voices...
[distant squawking]
... to isolate just one.
[squawking]
[chirping]
He has not let her down.
Her parents' partnership has kept her alive,
but she won't be able to rely on them forever.
And the team captures a clue how they'll
prepare her for independence.
[squawking]
[♪ uplifting music playing]
[chirping]
[Narrator] Scientists believe it's possible that
at just two weeks old, the chicks are already being
encouraged to make friends.
[chirping]
Their mothers bring them face to face.
Perhaps so they can learn to communicate,
the emperor way.
Even seeming to mimic each other as adults do.
[chirping]
It's a mommy and me class and the empress has
brought her daughter.
She's a little shy,
but mom knows how important this will be.
[chirping]
At a month old, she's starting to stand on
her own two feet,
with a little help from mom.
By two months, she's ready for daycare.
She's making the bonds she'll need for the
rest of her life.
They will stick together,
like it or not.
Winter is nearly over,
and soon she'll rely on them to keep her alive.
[quiet squawk]
[♪ serene music playing]
The chicks are now five months old.
Their parents have gone and they've begun
their own journey to the sea in search of a meal.
[Bertie] Their drive is unbelievable and
it's not just this lot.
there are groups of chicks everywhere making
their way to the sea.
[Narrator] Bertie's been tracking this tiny chick
and his friends since they survived the storm.
[Bertie] The chicks really are growing up fast.
They've started this amazing transformation
where they molt.
You know that grey fluffy coat is amazing for
keeping warm on the ice,
but it's completely useless in the water.
They need to lose it and get their adult
feathers ready for their first swim.
[Narrator] They're following the oldest,
and most confident of the group.
An internal compass takes their brave leader north.
[motor whirring]
But they've run into trouble.
[squawking, chirping]
As our climate warms,
the sea ice is breaking apart earlier,
melting beneath them before they're ready.
If their baby feathers get too wet,
they can drag the chicks underwater and drown them.
[chirping, splashing]
[Bertie] This is really difficult to watch.
They are fighting for their lives.
Go on!
[Narrator] The only world the leader's ever known is
crumbling beneath her.
[splashing, chirping]
Waiting for the tiny chick is becoming dangerous.
He's struggling to keep up.
With the ice melting rapidly,
they're all at risk.
[squawk]
The leader does something no emperor chick
should ever have to do.
[♪ somber music playing]
Leave their friend behind.
[♪ somber music playing]
The others make it onto stable ice.
[♪ uplifting music playing]
[♪ somber music playing]
[♪ upbeat music playing]
The little chick isn't finished yet.
[♪ uplifting music playing]
His friends are in sight.
[chirping, squawking]
[chirping]
Together again.
[Bertie] Just when I think these penguins have
hit their limit.
They do something extraordinary.
[Narrator] After three more days of marching
most of the chicks have reached the sea.
They've lost enough baby feathers and they're ready
for their first swim.
But in the scramble to reach solid ice,
the leader has taken a wrong path
and other groups have followed...
[♪ suspenseful music playing]
-What on earth is going on here?
[Narrator] Hundreds of chicks are stuck on a
towering shelf of ice.
[Bertie] That cliff has got to be 40, 50 feet high.
[♪ suspenseful music playing]
[chirping]
[spouting]
-What was that?
It's killer whales.
We've got killer whales!
[spouting]
Well fortunately for these penguins,
the killer whales look like they are moving on.
[Narrator] But now the ice is cracking,
a huge crevasse is opening up behind them.
[chirping]
One last time,
the leader steps forward.
[♪ upbeat music playing]
[splash]
[squawking]
[Bertie] I can't believe it,
she's made it.
[squawking, chirping]
[♪ upbeat music playing]
[squawking, chirping]
[♪ upbeat music playing]
[Bertie] You know, we've seen that these chicks
stick together,
so I think a lot are going to start to jump.
Here they go, here they go!
[♪ upbeat music playing]
[Bertie] Those first brave jumpers are giving the rest
the confidence to follow.
Some of them are even trying to flap their wings...
I had no idea that the chicks would be able
to make such a giant leap.
And then happily swim off together into
the Southern Ocean.
I really hope that tiny chick is
in there somewhere.
[Narrator] In a world that's changing fast,
emperors face an uncertain future.
They'll rely more than ever on the bonds
they form with family and friends.
[Bertie] Good luck little penguins...
[♪ upbeat music playing]