0:00:02 > 0:00:06There's a very special island off the south coast of Australia
0:00:06 > 0:00:09where thousands of penguins come to breed...
0:00:10 > 0:00:14..and thousands of people come to watch.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19Unique to this corner of our planet, the smallest of all penguin species,
0:00:19 > 0:00:24the Little Penguin, is battling to survive in a human world.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29But a dedicated team of scientists has sworn to guard them
0:00:29 > 0:00:32from people, predators...
0:00:32 > 0:00:33DOG BARKS
0:00:33 > 0:00:38..and this year, from the hottest summer since records began.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40As starving chicks struggle to hang on
0:00:40 > 0:00:46and their parents scour the oceans for a dwindling supply of fish,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50what will it take to protect the pocket-sized creatures
0:00:50 > 0:00:52of Penguin Island?
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Late in the afternoon,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and the last chance for a Little Penguin called Bluey
0:01:36 > 0:01:39to grab a bite to eat before heading home for the night.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Bluey might spend days, even weeks, out at sea.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57But he'll always eventually come back to the same beach
0:01:57 > 0:02:02at the largest protected Little Penguin colony in the world,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05on Phillip Island, Australia...
0:02:08 > 0:02:12..and there'll be busloads of admirers to welcome him home.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18Penguin fans pour in from round the world.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Everybody wants to catch a glimpse of these cute Aussie animals.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25- I come from China. - Yeah, I'm from Germany.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27- Bavaria.- Taiwan.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30From the United States of America. Kansas City, Missouri.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Yeah, we want to see the penguins!
0:02:32 > 0:02:35- I'm excited.- We came all the way to see the penguins.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39- Because in Taiwan we don't have penguins. - Oh, we just love the penguins.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54The Little Penguins for the last few hours have actually been forming groups called "rafts"
0:02:54 > 0:02:59and the reason they form these groups is for safety in numbers.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01So, if we can ask you all to please be nice and quiet
0:03:01 > 0:03:06and stay seated and watch these Little Penguins coming ashore.
0:03:13 > 0:03:19You can hear a pin drop as everyone waits for the first penguin to show.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Penguins are nervy little things.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Faced with a predator on land, they'd stand no chance of making a run for it,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32so they won't risk coming out of the water till dark.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41Penguin!
0:03:47 > 0:03:52Amazingly, the quick dash across the beach that Bluey and his pals
0:03:52 > 0:03:59make every night generates a cool 16,000 tourist pounds each year,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01and that's for every penguin.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11Once the penguins go offstage, the audience return to their comfy hotels.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18What they don't get to see is this,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23the remarkable private life of Australia's Little Penguin.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31It takes Bluey an hour to climb up from the beach
0:04:31 > 0:04:36to his old burrow in the garden of a cliff-top beach house.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43Last year, he raised two healthy chicks here with his long-term mate, Sheila.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50Penguin partners separate over winter, and it's been weeks since he last saw Sheila.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Now spring is coming,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56penguins return to the colony to meet
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and mate near their old burrows.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03But there's no sign of Bluey's Sheila yet.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12A hundred yards away, penguins are still clocking in.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17This route home bypasses all the tourists.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29Right at the back, a weary female begins the long hike up the cliff.
0:05:31 > 0:05:37Penguins have an acute visual memory for landmarks at sea and on land.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41She's picking up the pace.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44She remembers her way home.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02Sheila and Bluey are reunited at last.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06They celebrate with the Little Penguin's unique courtship shuffle
0:06:06 > 0:06:11and then get down to business starting a new family.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18The penguin breeding season has officially begun.
0:06:22 > 0:06:28Little Penguins have adapted to live along the warm southern coastline of Australia.
0:06:28 > 0:06:35For thousands of years, they dug their burrows all over the coast of Phillip Island,
0:06:35 > 0:06:40until human settlement started to gobble up their habitat.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Now the island's last remaining penguin colony
0:06:45 > 0:06:48clings to one rocky peninsula.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55And that's where Bluey and Sheila have made their burrow.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02It's a prime sea-view location for a penguin hideaway.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08All new building has been stopped here and the remaining houses
0:07:08 > 0:07:10slowly removed.
0:07:10 > 0:07:16This will be the last season when people and penguins live together,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19because the island peninsula has been designated
0:07:19 > 0:07:21a fully protected nature park.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26The park already has its own research facility,
0:07:26 > 0:07:31where critical penguin study has been conducted since 1968.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36Top animal biologists now flock here from across the world.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41For the first party I've made a list of the birds that were breeding.
0:07:41 > 0:07:47These experts know there's much more to the Little Penguin than its cuddly public image.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48PENGUIN SQUEAKS
0:07:48 > 0:07:56Perceived as cute fluffy, furry little animals, and once you meet them, they're the toughest creatures
0:07:56 > 0:08:00and they have the hardest life, and you can't not admire that.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04No-one knows penguins like Marg Healy.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07She runs the park's wildlife hospital.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09I cut my hand yesterday,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13and he keeps scratching me right where the cut is, like they know.
0:08:15 > 0:08:22She nurses dozens of birds back to health every year and has grown to love and respect them.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Every single penguin I've ever met is different. They really are.
0:08:25 > 0:08:32They might look the same to other people, but I can pick penguins by looking at their facial features.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34If you've ever had a dog, you know that that dog is
0:08:34 > 0:08:37not going to be the same as any other dog you ever meet.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39You're full. You are.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Marg provides whatever the animals need to make a speedy recovery.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51What are you doing, Jack? You're nocturnal. You're nocturnal!
0:08:51 > 0:08:53GALAH SQUAWKS
0:08:54 > 0:08:58It's really hard for babies in care, because they're so lonely.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02And they actually need nurturing like
0:09:02 > 0:09:05sort of small children.
0:09:12 > 0:09:18Springtime on Penguin Island means love is in the air.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29It's time to check up on some of the 13,000 penguin couples
0:09:29 > 0:09:31that breed here,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36in one of the planet's most-studied penguin colonies.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44Field researcher Leanne Renwick examines Bluey to see if
0:09:44 > 0:09:48he's got what it takes to raise a new penguin family.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51This male weighs almost one and a half kilograms,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55so for an adult male at this time of year that's a really nice weight.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57He's big and fat and healthy.
0:09:58 > 0:10:04I guess it just shows that he can catch food so therefore will be able to provide for his chicks.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Scientists have now amassed more than 40 years' worth of data
0:10:08 > 0:10:11on the personal life of the Little Penguin.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12This is a scanner.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17See, most of the penguins here now actually have a microchip inserted just under the surface of the skin,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21and that's a way that we can identify each individual.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25For some, home is a wooden nest box
0:10:25 > 0:10:30installed by scientists trying to safeguard the penguin habitat.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Wherever they've built new facilities for tourists
0:10:34 > 0:10:39or where natural burrows are scarce, they've placed artificial burrows
0:10:39 > 0:10:43to encourage penguins to live close by.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Like behind the kitchens at the visitor cafe,
0:10:46 > 0:10:51a successful new penguin housing project.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57After dark, the so-called Penguin Cafe springs into life as the males begin sparring
0:10:57 > 0:11:04for the best-dressed females and the best-appointed love nests.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Penguins who live here are certainly not shy.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10They've grown used to the bright lights and the clatter
0:11:10 > 0:11:13of human activity.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18And in the breeding season, they give as good as they get.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22PENGUINS CALL
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Too bad if you want a quiet cuppa after work!
0:11:28 > 0:11:34Once they've claimed a nest box, penguins won't tolerate uninvited guests.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44This is Rocky.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47He's a three-year-old ready to start a family.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56He's fitted out an A1 love nest.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01Now he just needs someone to share it with.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Being a bit on the chubby side is the secret to attracting a mate.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11It shows you're a successful fisherman and can provide for a family.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17Tonight, the boys are scoring left right and centre...
0:12:22 > 0:12:24..everyone, that is, except for Rocky.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Oh, and the cafe's perennial bachelor, Spike,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32who's constantly nest-building.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Spike is already two years old.
0:12:37 > 0:12:43He's determined, all right, but, it seems, a bit dim-witted,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and he too is yet to find a mate.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50He's watched all the home-improvement shows, it seems.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58He thinks he's quite the catch.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06But, erm, not for that one.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12It's back to the renovations for Spike.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17Which penguin will be first to find their perfect match,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20fastidious Spike or fat Rocky?
0:13:22 > 0:13:27Two weeks later, and spring has truly sprung at the cliff-top burrow.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34Bluey is sitting on two new eggs that Sheila has laid.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39She's gone to sea.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44Now she's 30 miles offshore looking for fish.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47They can only hunt one at a time,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51and soon they'll have two hungry mouths to feed.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Meanwhile, Bluey is minding their precious eggs.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59He's not the only one that's housebound.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05All over the colony, penguin mums and dads
0:14:05 > 0:14:09take turns to keep their eggs warm and protected from predators
0:14:09 > 0:14:14for 35 long days, until they hatch.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Bluey has a human neighbour, Elizabeth Lundahl Hegedus,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21although she will be leaving in six months.
0:14:21 > 0:14:28Her house is to be demolished as part of the grand plan to make this a complete penguin sanctuary.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33Already her garden is full of breeding pairs.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35There are penguins all over the whole area.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40Wherever you see this vegetation over there, there, there'd be penguin burrows spread out.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45It's been more than 30 years since Elizabeth
0:14:45 > 0:14:50first came from Sweden to live on this exposed outpost in Australia.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Oh, there's a penguin, possibly sitting on eggs.
0:14:55 > 0:15:01It's got a very good, solid beak, which indicates that it's a male, and he's getting a bit worried.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04We've got the two artificial burrows over here.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09They've got eggs there, normally they will stay with the eggs for three or four days each.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Obviously, they don't like having their roof suddenly opened up.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14I wouldn't, either.
0:15:14 > 0:15:20Penguins like Bluey try to raise two chicks each season.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24On average, only one will survive.
0:15:24 > 0:15:25Bluey's hungry,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30but he must guard the eggs till Sheila gets back tonight.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Anyway, the beach is a no-go zone during the day.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38It's dangerous out there.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44The skies are full of gulls that will swoop on any unsuspecting prey.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51In broad daylight, there is just nowhere to hide.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Bluey will not budge an inch.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04And he cannot leave his precious eggs for one second.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10Careless parents who go looking for food leave behind a power breakfast
0:16:10 > 0:16:13for egg thieves like these hungry silver gulls.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15GULLS SQUAWK
0:16:19 > 0:16:25Even copperhead snakes will case a penguin burrow on the off chance of a quick feed.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31But not on Bluey's watch.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Hopefully, the relief guard will be on her way soon.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43Penguins are starting to raft up before coming ashore.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Maybe Sheila will be among them.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Some are already approaching the Parade beach.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Like many island locals, Elizabeth works here as a Parade guide.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09You know that it's not till quarter past seven?
0:17:09 > 0:17:11- Yeah.- Yeah, good!
0:17:13 > 0:17:15They sort of looked expectant,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17and they've got another 25 minutes
0:17:17 > 0:17:20to go before somebody's going to turn up, so...!
0:17:20 > 0:17:23But there's a catch to this line of work.
0:17:23 > 0:17:24Pesky people, mostly.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27The penguins are always nice.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Even when they bite you, they've got a good reason for it.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34RADIO: 'We're going to open the doors in a minute.'
0:17:34 > 0:17:36So, now you get the stampede.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41You go sideways round... No penguins come up in the middle.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Each night, without fail,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56the penguins shoot straight past the gawping masses
0:17:56 > 0:17:59and trundle on with their busy lives.
0:18:01 > 0:18:08365 days a year, evening rush hour passes across Elizabeth's front lawn,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13with a steady stream of honking commuter traffic.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Bluey waits patiently for Sheila.
0:18:21 > 0:18:29Fossil records show that at least 65 million years ago, penguins traded in their wings for flippers,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33which means the only way up those cliffs is on foot.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39For many, it's a half a mile to reach their burrows.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43That's a huge trek if your legs are only two inches long.
0:18:45 > 0:18:52Meanwhile, back at the Penguin Cafe, a group of eligible females arrives.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57With any luck, one will be Spike's perfect match.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14This is Tash.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18She lost her chicks last year when food ran short.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Now she's looking for a new partner to try again.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Hmm...
0:19:26 > 0:19:28an older divorcee -
0:19:28 > 0:19:32could be bachelor Spike's lucky night.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37PENGUINS SQUAWK LOUDLY
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Courtship is notoriously rowdy.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Only when they actually start mating do things quieten down.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55Penguins don't have external sex organs like mammals.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59It's believed that Spike's flipper beating and back massage
0:19:59 > 0:20:01stimulate Tash.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Their reproductive tracts, called cloacas,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08come together for all of a second,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12and hey presto, sperm is transferred.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17Once they've mated, males jealously guard their females.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23With no time to get her back to his carefully prepared pad,
0:20:23 > 0:20:29Spike quickly bundles Tash into the nearest empty nest box,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31out the way of any rivals.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34PENGUINS GROWL
0:20:34 > 0:20:38It takes a moment for young Spike to realise
0:20:38 > 0:20:41that nest box is not in fact empty.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45And that flipper-beating sound coming from inside
0:20:45 > 0:20:48is a really bad sign.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Spike can only take so much.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57Suddenly it's pandemonium at Box 1/62.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59THUDDING
0:20:59 > 0:21:03The penguin inside is none other than Rocky,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Spike's neighbour and rival.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11It's the usual fight for boxes, burrows and birds,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15and 13mm of razor-sharp beak can be a deadly weapon.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29The fight continues outside.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36And just when the fellas are flagging,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Tash rushes out and joins in.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Having mated with both males,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52she's not sure just who goes with who right now.
0:21:54 > 0:22:01Spike settles it and shoves Tash into a box that IS actually empty.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Rocky is still short of a soul mate.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09And now those two newlyweds really rub his beak in it.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11They're at it again!
0:22:17 > 0:22:22Not far away, in Elizabeth's garden, Bluey, the loyal dad left to guard
0:22:22 > 0:22:24the eggs, is still home alone,
0:22:24 > 0:22:29waiting for his partner, Sheila, to return from her fishing trip.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36And then something starts to stir beneath him.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44The first little chicks of the season
0:22:44 > 0:22:47are set to make their grand entrance.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01With a birth weight of just 45 grams, Sammy, the first hatchling,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05must try and eat his way to more than a kilo
0:23:05 > 0:23:09to increase his chances of survival at sea.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12He and his little brother, Tom,
0:23:12 > 0:23:17are very hungry now, but their father hasn't eaten in days.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19They need their mum, Sheila.
0:23:25 > 0:23:31By the time Elizabeth turns in, Sheila is still not back.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36It looks like Bluey's on his own again for another long night.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40A night-vision camera
0:23:40 > 0:23:42shows us what happens next.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54A fox has got in behind Elizabeth's house.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04In desperation, Bluey tries to conceal his tiny chicks.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07It is little protection.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11A prowling fox could take them all in a flash.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Next morning, word spreads
0:24:15 > 0:24:19that a fox has been stalking through the colony.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23We've had instances where a fox has come out here at night,
0:24:23 > 0:24:28and they can sometimes kill 30 or 50 penguins in a night.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31It's horrific. And they tend not to eat them, either.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33You just turn up in the morning
0:24:33 > 0:24:36and there's just dead penguins everywhere, basically.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45They soon find evidence of the predator's killing spree.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53As she does her morning rounds, Leanne checks on Bluey's burrow.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57I actually think that I can hear tiny little chicks.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04Bluey and the chicks have escaped the fox for now.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08This chick is probably about a day, one, one or two days old.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13And hopefully Sheila will make it back to feed her hungry family.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18So, it weighs...
0:25:18 > 0:25:2153 grams.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41The little hatchlings won't last another night.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48They desperately need their mother home with food.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53But first, she'll have to make it past the fox.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Penguin parents scurry home as quickly as they can.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06Struggling to catch up is a female penguin weighed down with fish.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Sheila is back at last,
0:26:12 > 0:26:17with her devoted partner, Bluey, and two new offspring.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23From now on, the couple will take it in turns to baby-sit,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27heading off for one or two days at a time to find fish.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31And Bluey can at last go and feed himself.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37The kids are not the only ones who are starving.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Sheila now gives the boys regular feeds.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58They've already survived gulls, snakes and a prowling fox,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02but they are vulnerable while stuck on land,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06unable to feed or move fast from predators.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10And they've got another eight weeks of it before they grow strong enough
0:27:10 > 0:27:15to feed themselves out there in Australia's Southern Ocean.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Bluey's got his work cut out for him, too.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Trawling the oceans for fish for the family
0:27:23 > 0:27:25for two whole months is no mean feat.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30But they're plucky things, Australia's Little Penguins.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Next on Penguin Island,
0:27:38 > 0:27:44chicks Sammy and Tom are old enough to be left home alone.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50It's time for the two young brothers to meet their fans.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54But sometimes, people and penguins come too close.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Then all of a sudden,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59there's a life to save on Penguin Island.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:02 > 0:28:06E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk