March of the Penguins

I just got back from the documentary, March of the Penguins. It's a really well done film narrated by Morgan Freeman. I really came to appreciate how tough a life Emperor penguins have.

When Emperor penguins reach five years old, they make a trek to an area miles from the ocean to meet a mate and breed. Once the female lays an egg, she transfers it to the male, who then attempts to keep the egg warm during a few months of pure, wintery, Antarctic hell. The female heads back to the ocean to eat as she's lost about 1/3 of her body weight during the trek and making the egg. Once they've eaten enough, they trek back to the inland area and if the timing works out, they will make it in time to feed their young. The fathers then head back to the ocean to eat, as they've been without food for a few months and have lost roughly 1/2 their body weight. The females stay in the inland area to raise the babies to an age where they can walk on their own without freezing to death.

As the warmer months return, and the ice begins to melt, the mothers and fathers take turns going to the ocean to get food for the young. Then, when the babies are old enough to start taking care of themselves, the parents leave the babies for good and head back to the ocean.

The documentary was full of very beautiful shots of the penguins, as well as the surrounding landscape. And the film was very real to life, even showing several of the sad endings to the adults and babies. All of it served the purpose to show how amazing these animals truly are, and how powerful mother nature is. We would do well to remember that mother nature is the one in charge when we're busy trying work around her or damaging her with our wasteful ways.