National Geographic and BAFTA Award-winning cinematographer Bertie Gregory has released some beautiful, terrifying, and incredible footage of some emperor penguin chicks jumping off of a 50-foot cliff in Antarctica. This footage is from the upcoming SECRETS OF THE PENGUINS, which is set to arrive on Earth Day in 2025. The video was taken in January 2024 at Atka Bay on the Ekström Ice Shelf in Antarctica and shows these young penguins walking in mass to the edge of this precipice, hesitating a few moments, and then one penguin makes the plunge. Soon, many of these young penguins are also diving into the sea. This video is not super long but it is packed full of beauty and drama that is accompanied by some incredible sounds from the penguins and their surroundings, along with a lovely score.
The video was shot by Bertie Gregory and marks the first time this has ever been captured on camera. He was filming a group of over 700 emperor penguins when this event happened. This events happens every January when the penguin chicks leave their colony for the first time to go to the ocean and swim. Most emperor penguins raise their chicks on sea ice that then breaks up every spring. At about 5 months, the chicks lose their baby feathers and then travel to the sea for their first swim. This generally involves jumping into the water from the ice about 1-2 feet high. While scientists had seen this happen from the 50-foot cliff before, it never had been filmed and confirmed in this way.
To make SECRETS OF THE PENGUINS, Bertie Gregory and a team spent 9-weeks living and working in a tent camp at Ekström Ice Shelf near the main Atka Bay penguin colony. For two months, the team worked in negative-5 degree weather and utilized high-tech drones to capture the incredible footage. The team stayed until the end of the winter when the ice was breaking up and floating out into the Southern Ocean. Finally, a storm coming in leading to the end of filming for the season.
The drones that were utilized pushed the boundaries of polar filming. The new camera drone that was used had a telephoto lens. This allowed for the filming of animal behavior from the air without disrupting or impacting the penguins. This has never been done before and the preview that was released already shows how incredible it is!
Bertie Gregory and his team faced some unique challenges in filming the emperor penguins. A big challenge is that the penguins make their passage when the ice is most unstable. The whole team did everything possible to ensure their safety and also the safety of the wildlife around them. This was done with the help of a world-class safety team that was brought in for this project.
The passage of these emperor penguins isn’t the only incredible look at nature during Earth Month. More can be found in the ourHome collection on Disney+. More information about this incredible penguin leap can be found at NatGeo.com as well.
What do you think of this footage of the emperor penguin chicks? Are you looking forward to seeing SECRETS OF THE PENGUINS next year? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
