Snow Chick - A Penguin's Tale

Midwinter in Antarctica,

and one of nature's most extraordinary stories

is about to begin.

Through two months of biting winds, blizzards and unimaginable cold,

these male emperor penguins have each nurtured a single precious egg.

One by one, they welcome their tiny chicks into the world.

But not all eggs will hatch, and one father is still waiting.

A neighbour shows off his own new youngster.

His calls will encourage the chick to emerge.

Finally, the youngest member of the colony is born.

But growing up in the world's most extreme nursery

will be a huge challenge,

for in just six months he must have learned enough to fend for himself

in the great Antarctic Ocean.

This is the dramatised story of one extraordinary little bird.

Far from their chicks,

the mothers have spent

the last two months

catching fish and fattening up

while the fathers were left alone

to hatch their eggs.

Now the race is on to get back and feed their young.

Among the excited crowd is Snow Chick's mother.

She's got a belly full of fish for her newborn,

but between them is a gruelling 60-mile trek across the frozen sea.

Waddling at less than 2mph, it will take many days to get home.

Instinct drives them on -

their babies' lives depend on them arriving in time.

Back at the colony, the father is getting to know his chick.

He gives him some high-calorie baby milk

produced from a gland in his throat.

But these supplies will only last a few days.

It's just as well his mother is on her way.

Following her maternal instinct, she and all the other females

are making steady progress on their journey home.

But in places the ice is wafer-thin.

Below, a predator tracks their every move.

A leopard seal, the penguins' greatest enemy.

The chick's mother senses danger.

PENGUINS CALL

She was right to be cautious.

Broken ice is a deathtrap.

For the rest, their chick is their only concern.

But the seal needs just one victim.

A near miss,

and she still has 40 treacherous miles ahead of her.

While the chick waits for her return,

outside temperatures are at -30.

But the pouch covers him like a tea cosy

and keeps him at a comfy +37 degrees.

For a new father,

walking with a chick on your feet is a tricky balancing act.

He'll get the hang of it soon.

The mothers are also struggling with the icy conditions

and they are crossing some of the toughest terrain on earth.

Their sharp claws grip the ice,

while scales on their feet

act like treads.

But where the snow melts and re-thaws,

it creates slippery conditions that even a penguin finds challenging.

Back at the colony, it's been a week since the chick was born.

At these temperatures, survival depends on getting enough to eat.

His father tries, but there's nothing left to give.

The mothers battle on.

Sadly, some years they simply don't make it in time.

The chick is getting weaker by the hour.

Then, at last, some weary figures appear.

Utterly exhausted by the walk,

the mother still has one final challenge

before she can meet her chick.

Finding him.

There are over 3,000 fathers with chicks here

and, even to penguins, they all look the same.

For the chick, time is running out.

But the penguins have a solution.

The fathers get in line and dad and his chick join them.

They form an identity parade.

All she has to do is simply work her way along the line.

Sounds simple enough,

but among all the penguin lookalikes,

her partner is still tricky to recognise.

So, every so often, she stops and calls.

PENGUIN CALLS

Her cry is unique and the father responds with a call of his own.

PENGUIN CALLS

PENGUIN CHICK CHEEPS

It's what she was hoping to hear.

After two months at sea and a 60-mile trek across the ice,

she's made it back in the nick of time.

In a miracle of natural timing,

he gets a morsel that will save his life.

It's now his mother's turn to take over the childcare...

..but they must be careful -

a few seconds too long on the ice and their chick will die.

Finally, they unite as a family.

The bond they share is one of the most remarkable in nature.

For over the next five months,

they'll take it in turns to trek to the sea to bring back food

for their ever-growing baby.

PENGUIN CHICK CHEEPS

His father endured so much to get the tiny chick this far.

Saying goodbye is hard.

This time, there's no looking back.

In four weeks, he will return with fresh supplies.

But first, there's the little matter of a 120-mile round-trip to the sea.

Now it's Mum's turn to feed him.

A natural preservative

has kept the fish as fresh as the day it was caught.

The chick may be satisfied, but his father hasn't eaten for four months.

He and the rest of the hungry fathers

are now two days into their long walk to the sea.

But sometimes the ice offers a short-cut.

An ice hole,

a portal to the sea which could cut their journey by days.

And when you're famished, it's got to be worth investigating.

But such holes don't appear by themselves.

There had to be a catch.

They can either stay and hope the leopard seal goes away

or continue their long, risky trek to the sea.

Time to regroup, this must be a joint decision.

Emperors rely on each other for their very survival,

so learning social skills starts early.

Penguins are naturally argumentative,

so his first lesson is sticking up for himself.

His mother only intervenes when things go too far.

But no kid likes being told off.

At the ice hole, the standoff continues.

No-one is keen to be first.

But they egg each other on, as penguins like to do.

The coast is clear.

Their gamble paid off.

At the colony, two weeks have passed.

The chicks are testing their independence

and spending time away from their mothers.

All, that is, except one.

As the last to hatch, he's way behind in development.

While the older chicks are boisterous and confident,

he still feels most comfortable in his mother's pouch.

But penguins are sociable birds,

and to survive, he must learn to play his part in the colony.

It's a daunting prospect...

..but the little chick finds some courage.

SNOW CHICK CHEEPS

It's a shaky start,

but he mustn't lose his nerve.

Time for a bit of tough love.

With every step, he gains more confidence.

It's just as well - he has so many friends to make.

But when you're the smallest,

it's tough to join the gang.

PENGUIN CALLS

For now, there's always Mum.

Out in the open ocean,

the fathers are revelling in being back in the water.

They haven't eaten for four whole months

and have lost half their body weight.

To stock up on fish and squid,

they hold their breath for up to 20 minutes

and dive to nearly 2,000 feet,

deeper than any other bird.

At the colony, three weeks have passed

and the chick is confidently following his mother

wherever she goes.

He's still learning how things should be done...

..and how they shouldn't.

He soon thinks there's nothing left to learn...

..so nervous toddler turns cocky explorer.

But at this age, she mustn't let him out of her sight.

PENGUIN CALLS

She's lost him

and heads off in the wrong direction.

Confused, he does the only sensible thing

and heads towards the colony.

He feels safer now.

His mother must be here somewhere.

And then, security at last.

But he's got it wrong,

it's not his mother.

This must be her, surely?

Wrong again.

He tests each penguin in turn, but nobody wants him.

In a colony this size, he may never find his mother again.

These are desperate times.

In this frozen world, lost chicks don't survive for long.

His father is among the many rushing back with fresh supplies,

but he must be careful.

A pod of killer whales are on their tail.

They look for any penguin that makes a mistake.

Just a tiny error, but now he's in deep trouble.

He torpedoes to safety...

..but killer whales are intelligent and persistent predators

and the spring melt has turned the ice edge

into a maze of gullies and openings,

perfect for a surprise attack.

To keep him in their sights, they spy-hop.

He must find a safe passage out by staying on solid ice.

He sees a route and heads for safety.

A reprieve of sorts,

but the other fathers left without him.

And with a storm brewing, he's totally exposed.

Already, the blizzard has reached the colony.

The chick's only protection is his overcoat of down

and at -40, it's simply not enough.

And unfortunately, the other mothers care only for their own.

SNOW CHICK CHEEPS

The chick's mother calls one last time...

..but her cries are lost on the wind.

PENGUIN CALLS, WIND HOWLS

At last, he's found...

..and not a moment too soon.

But out on the ice,

the lone father is still paying the price for his mistake.

Within a few hours, the full force of the storm engulfs the colony.

The chick may be safe,

but as temperatures drop to -60,

his mother's warmth is not enough.

To protect him, she needs to find refuge

in the shared warmth of the other penguins.

As 70mph winds lash the colony, the penguins huddle together.

Sheltered from the storm, they're snug at last.

Out in the open, the father's chances are slim.

His only hope is to reach the safety of the colony in time.

In the comfort of the huddle,

the penguins have all the shelter they need.

In the centre, temperatures can even reach a toasty 37 degrees.

To cool down, they shuffle to the outside,

letting others take their place.

By sharing body heat, they weather any storm.

Desperate for the warmth of the family,

the lone father struggles on.

For the sake of his chick, he simply has to make it back.

PENGUIN CALLS

Then, through the blizzard, salvation.

Against the odds, he's made it home.

A few weeks pass

and the days are lengthening.

Dad is on parenting duties

while Mum takes the fishing shift.

But even in the safety of the colony,

there are unexpected dangers.

Penguins who have failed to breed

practise child-rearing skills on chunks of ice.

But their mothering instinct is so overwhelming,

what they really want is a baby of their own.

And who better than the smallest, most adorable chick in the colony?

Dad has his work cut out keeping these kid-snatchers at bay.

And they aren't the only broody penguins...

Soon, there are so many baby-snatchers,

they block the father's path at every turn.

PENGUINS CALL

As his chick gets smothered by admirers,

there's nothing he can do.

For these lone females,

the urge to nurture a chick of their own is overwhelming.

In the frenzy, they are in danger of loving him to death.

CHICK CHEEPS

When Dad can finally reach him, his little chick is in real peril.

Then a lucky break -

he gets his battered baby back.

Nothing is more important than the safety of your young.

As the weeks go by, spring turns to summer.

The sea ice melts and the ocean gets closer.

It means feeding the chicks is easy, so they are growing up fast.

They hang out together in small, comforting huddles.

But Snow Chick isn't ready to cut the ties,

despite being too big for his father's pouch.

It's starting to get embarrassing...

It's long overdue,

but his father finally persuades him to find his place in the gang.

But there's an art to joining a huddle

and he hasn't mastered it.

But practice makes perfect,

and the first thing to work out is which way to face.

You know you've got it right when someone snuggles in behind you.

Accepted at last.

This is a huge milestone in his development -

it means that, for the first time, both parents can go fishing.

The chick is not so sure he's ready to be left on his own.

But the colony has invisible walls

and he instinctively knows

they mustn't be crossed.

The adults left behind

don't have the caring ways of his parents.

Until they return, he must find one of the colony's childminders.

A penguin who hasn't bred takes on the role as practice for the future.

She'll take him under her wing,

but only if he does as he's told.

She's a firm believer in discipline.

With so many chicks in her care,

stragglers won't be tolerated.

He will just have to toughen up.

But there's a reason for the new, strict regime.

With the warmer days,

the open sea is closer now

and new and unwelcome visitors can reach the colony easily.

CHEEPING

A giant petrel.

They always pick on the smallest.

He's caught!

But just by his baby fluff.

The childminder is welcome now.

It's now a deadly game of hide-and-seek.

Luckily, the petrel spots an easier meal of scraps...

..and the chick has learned a valuable lesson.

As spring continues,

the melting ice brings another new arrival.

PENGUIN SQUAWKS

The Adelie penguin.

A cocky character, very different to the laid-back emperor.

Adelies breed in the Antarctic summer.

He's the first to arrive

and he's heading straight for his breeding grounds...

..exactly where the emperors are living.

These days, the smallest chick is one of the gang

and the youngsters do everything together.

But this new-found harmony is about to be rudely interrupted.

When the Adelie reaches the colony, he's on a mission.

He's setting up home for the summer

and he expects to have the place to himself.

Adelies are only half a metre tall,

but they're the most pugnacious of all penguins -

he thinks nothing of taking on the whole colony.

Chicks that don't give way soon get the message.

He'll be a thorn in their side until he's seen the back of them.

In the meantime, he makes himself at home.

As the melt brings the sea ever closer,

the parents visit their chicks more frequently.

The littlest still has some catching up to do,

but with this continuous relay of food,

everyone is piling on the pounds.

When the chick isn't eating,

he spends his time hungrily waiting for his next meal.

When his mother does arrive,

she's plagued by greedy chicks, all trying to blag a free lunch.

But if she feeds any of these impostors,

her chick will go hungry.

He's hidden somewhere in the huddle.

To find him, she must use her unique and comforting call.

MOTHER CALLS

The chicks are so tightly packed,

he can only reach her by crowd-surfing.

Even now, he must undergo an identity check

before he gets a meal.

Fortunately, he passes the test.

With the warming weather,

the snow melts in the day but refreezes at night,

creating the perfect conditions for sheet ice.

The adults test out the new ice rink.

But in a land of ice and snow, it's a skill all must learn.

For the smallest chick, it's yet another challenge...

..and his feet don't make the greatest ice skates.

But we all learn from our mistakes.

Not everyone is struggling with the conditions.

Nimbler and faster, the Adelie has a skating style all of his own.

He's still a lone warrior, but he won't be for long.

Reinforcements are on their way.

More Adelies...

Hundreds of them!

They're ready to breed and nothing will stand in their way.

They time-share these breeding grounds with the emperors

and the summer season is their turn.

If you're small, it's best to keep a low profile

and hope they'll pick on someone their own size.

While the bigger chicks are squaring up,

he makes his exit.

SQUAWKING

When the new neighbours aren't picking fights with the chicks,

they argue amongst themselves.

LOUD SQUAWKING

The Adelie invasion

is also a sign of a bigger and more profound change.

After five months of nurturing,

the adults are preparing to leave their chicks for good.

A conveyer belt of food is now arriving around the clock,

building them up until they can fend for themselves.

From the smallest to the largest, the chicks are getting huge meals -

up to five kilos of fish in a single session.

But when you're always hungry,

everyone else seems to be getting more!

Many adults are leaving the colony for the last time...

..and the smallest chick here still has some feeding up to do

and his parents are nowhere to be seen.

Then, two familiar figures.

It's double helpings this time.

He'll need the extra nourishment -

he doesn't know it yet,

but this is the last meal he'll ever get from them.

Without so much as a backward glance,

Mum and Dad head back to sea.

Their work is done.

The chick they spent five months rearing

must now stand on his own two feet.

All the chicks have been abandoned,

just a few baby-sitters remain.

They exercise their flippers

as they prepare for the next phase in their lives -

four years at sea in the Antarctic Ocean.

It's something even the smallest must do.

He'll soon be using these flippers in earnest,

but right now, no-one seems ready to make the long trek to the sea.

A week goes by and the weather deteriorates.

All that time, the chicks have been waiting,

but their parents never returned.

Even the Adelie seems confused.

Eventually, driven by hunger and instinct,

their only choice is to cross the colony's invisible boundary

and begin the most important journey of their lives.

The Adelie couldn't be happier to see them go.

He escorts them off the premises.

As winds reach 80mph,

the smallest struggles to keep up.

But he'll only survive if he stays with the group,

and it's so easy to lose them in a blizzard.

In temperatures of -20, they battle on,

driven by a need to reach the sea.

After several hours,

the struggling chick is losing energy.

CHICK CALLS

Then, even the other chicks can travel no more.

Completely exhausted, the chick must make one final effort.

Together, the plucky little gang wait for the storm to pass.

A few days later, the weather has changed...

..and so have the chicks.

As they prepare for a life in the ocean,

they preen away their baby fluff

to reveal their adult plumage underneath.

As ever, one chick has some catching up to do.

The Adelie wants them on their way

and encourages them with a little preening of his own.

SQUAWKING

Urged on by their escort,

the ragtag army reach their destination.

This is their first sight of the sea -

the great Antarctic Ocean.

They're facing the greatest challenge of their young lives

and they'll only go when all are ready.

But their ice world is disappearing fast.

He hesitates. Something's wrong.

The ice gives way,

he's tossed into the sea.

He can't go it alone, he must rejoin the others.

CHICK CALLS

Then he starts to settle.

It feels...strangely natural.

But as the rest show no sign of joining him,

his only choice is to clamber back out.

It's far more difficult than getting in

and it seems he's not alone in the water.

The chicks head for a safer spot.

But despite the danger, the ocean is beckoning

and the excitement is contagious.

An old foe is here to see them off.

The chick may still be the smallest but he seems more confident now.

He may be facing the great unknown,

but he's already had a taste of the sea.

He pushes his way to the front.

After all he has learned, this is his moment.

He takes a leap of faith...

..and this time, there is no turning back.

The rest follow his cue.

He might have been the smallest,

but he was strong enough to survive against the odds...

..and now he leads the penguin gang into the vast Antarctic Ocean.

This will be their home for the next four years.

Then, driven by the same feelings that drove his parents,

Snow Chick will return here to find a partner of his own...

..and the whole incredible story will begin all over again.