Each winter, alone in the pitiless ice deserts of Antarctica, deep in the
most inhospitable terrain on Earth, a truly remarkable journey takes place
as it has done for millennia. Emperor penguins in their thousands abandon
the deep blue security of their ocean home and clamber onto the frozen ice
to begin their long journey into a region so bleak, so extreme, it supports
no other wildlife at this time of year. In single file, the penguins march
blinded by blizzards, buffeted by gale force winds. Guided by instinct, by
the otherworldly radiance of the Southern Cross, they head unerringly for
their traditional breeding ground where--after a ritual courtship of
intricate dances and delicate maneuvering, accompanied by a cacophony of
ecstatic song--they will pair off into monogamous couples and mate. The
females remain long enough only to lay a single egg. Once this is
accomplished, exhausted by weeks without nourishment, they begin their
return journey across the ice-field to the fish-filled seas. The male
emperors are left behind to guard and hatch the precious eggs, which they
cradle at all times on top of their feet. After two long months during
which the males eat nothing, the eggs begin to hatch. Once they have
emerged into their ghostly white new world, the chicks can not survive for
long on their fathers' limited food reserves. If their mothers are late
returning from the ocean with food, the newly-hatched young will die. Once
the families are reunited, the roles reverse, the mothers remaining with
their new young while their mates head, exhausted and starved, for the sea,
and food. While the adults fish, the chicks face the ever-present threat of
attack by prowling giant petrels. As the weather grows warmer and the ice
floes finally begin to crack and melt, the adults will repeat their arduous
journey countless times, marching many hundreds of miles over some of the
most treacherous territory on Earth, until the chicks are ready to take
their first faltering dive into the deep blue waters of the Antarctic.
The cycle of life the Emperor's penguins is disclosed in this wonderful
documentary. Every autumn, these animal leave the safety of the ocean and
march along twenty days to a place called "Oamack". Once there, they select
their mates, they procreate, protect and feed their offspring and after
months they return to the sea. Later, their progeny go to the ocean, where
they stay for four years, and when they reach their adult life, they follow
the same pattern of their parents.
