I watched the life story of the Emperor Penguins on the Discovery channel last night and was mesmerized by the inborn instincts they have to survive - traveling for miles and miles inland in the winter to colder, harder ice in Antartica in order to fnd a mate and hatch an egg in temperatures reaching minus 120 degrees Farenheit.
While the male remains inland in the cold to protect the egg, the female treks back across the miles to the ocean in order to feed and make the long journey back to take food to the young hatchling. Sometimes the egg is lost and freezes, sometimes the male doesn't survive the cold or lack of food, sometimes the female doesn't return or returns too late.
However, hard as it seems, these animals have been making their ritual journey for a thousand years, and 66 percent of their eggs survive each year, on average.
A very moving film, with beautiful filming (the scenery and close-up shots of traveling penguins and icy landscapes). I recommend it to those who haven't seen it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
May is Asian and Pacific Heritage Month: Four Authors and more
Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month Here are some AAPI writers of note Bad, Bad Girl by Gish Jen, not yet published (Oct. 21, 2...
I will never forget the scene where the male is trying to transfer the egg to the female after holding it all winter... it hits the ice and cracks almost immediately from the cold. They both stand there looking at it as if overwhelmed by it all
ReplyDelete