0:00:02 > 0:00:06There's a very special island off the south coast of Australia
0:00:06 > 0:00:10where thousands of penguins come to breed.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14And thousands of people come to watch.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Unique to this corner of our planet,
0:00:16 > 0:00:21the smallest of all penguin species, the Little Penguin,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24is battling to survive in a human world.
0:00:24 > 0:00:30But a dedicated team of scientists has sworn to guard them from people,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32predators...
0:00:33 > 0:00:38..and, this year, from the hottest summer since records began.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42As starving chicks struggle to hang on and their parents
0:00:42 > 0:00:46scour the oceans for a dwindling supply of fish,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50what will it take to protect these pocket-sized creatures?
0:00:53 > 0:00:58This week, just when penguin chicks are ready to leave,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01a punishing heat wave hits the island.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Oh, mate.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08The parents of a Little Penguin called Sammy have been missing
0:01:08 > 0:01:13for days, out at sea desperately hunting for food.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18If the heat doesn't get him, starvation will.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22So can Sammy take the chance of searching for food himself
0:01:22 > 0:01:24off the shores of Penguin Island?
0:01:47 > 0:01:52Eight-week-old Sammy is one of the last penguin chicks remaining on land this season.
0:01:54 > 0:02:00Most now have the body weight and waterproof feathers they need to brave the sea and find food.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10THEY SQUEAK AND CHIRP
0:02:14 > 0:02:18Sammy waits, hesitating to join the stampede.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28He's not the only one dragging his heels.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Up at the Wagner's beach house on top of the cliff,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37there are two other chicks slow to move out from their home.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Stan and Sparky are also eight weeks old,
0:02:42 > 0:02:47but still getting occasional feeds from their parents.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Why go to sea to hunt when dinner is home delivered?
0:02:58 > 0:03:01But Sammy hasn't seen his parents for two days now.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06Without them his only food source lies out beyond the breakers.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14This hungry penguin watches the other chicks leave.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21It could be months before they return and years before they have their own penguin chicks.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Life at sea will be tough for them.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Most won't survive their first year.
0:03:30 > 0:03:36Sammy decides to give it a while longer before he leaves home for good.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39He's chosen a bad time to stay.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45The last few days have been unusually hot.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50RADIO: 'The southern states face at least another day of sweltering conditions
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'involving danger for the very young, the elderly and the infirm.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56'Victorians are being urged to stay indoors.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00'The state is bracing for its worst fire conditions ever...'
0:04:00 > 0:04:05A relentless heat is baking the island,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08pushing every animal to the limits of survival.
0:04:19 > 0:04:2343 tomorrow, 35...
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Basically the forecast is... it's going to be hot.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34CROWS SQUAWK
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Penguins are particularly vulnerable to intense heat.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48On land, in a hot summer, their feathers that interlock at the tips
0:04:48 > 0:04:53to keep out cold now trap heat inside their bodies.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56PENGUIN CHIRPS
0:04:56 > 0:05:01In the worst case, their internal organs start to cook.
0:05:04 > 0:05:11With the heat wave set to continue, ranger John Evans goes looking for struggling penguins.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16The ones that are ashore during the day really, really struggle. So it can take,
0:05:16 > 0:05:21you know, as little as half an hour for them to die of heat stress.
0:05:21 > 0:05:28And it generally depends all on how much shade they have and how exposed they are to breeze.
0:05:39 > 0:05:45Any chicks now that are here, you don't hold up much hope for.
0:05:45 > 0:05:53The secret for a penguin chick is to leave here really early during the breeding season and leave fat, OK?
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Being overweight is very handy for these birds.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02There's two under the boardwalk here.
0:06:03 > 0:06:10Two chicks, just at a very loose guess, because their feathers look nice and blue.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14So what they want, is they want shade and they would love
0:06:14 > 0:06:19to be able to pick up breeze on those really hot days, OK?
0:06:19 > 0:06:21So here's not a bad spot.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24They don't... yeah, they don't like those hot days.
0:06:33 > 0:06:40Every month for over 40 years, the volunteer penguin study group has been monitoring penguins
0:06:40 > 0:06:43in one particular site behind the Parade beach.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Oops, look out, that's soft there.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49If you jump across here you'll be all right.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00Chicks need a bodyweight approaching a kilo to survive at sea,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04and without it they're stuck on the island.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06And the weight is 750.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I'd like to see it nearer 1,000.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12And another dead one, very small dead one here.
0:07:12 > 0:07:18Above 80 degrees, penguins burn energy just to stay cool.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21But it's already 95,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25and these underfed birds don't have fat reserves to spare.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28There's one live there and two dead.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33I don't think I've seen so many that look to be heat stressed before, as this.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37It's no longer hunger that's the big killer.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Now it's the heat as well.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44There's a penguin in here,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46I hate to tell you.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49The team is not supposed to intervene when wild penguin chicks
0:07:49 > 0:07:53die of natural, even if extreme, causes.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59This poor penguin is as good as dead, unable to crawl back under cover.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03But its suffering is too much for one young volunteer.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10If she can just get its body temperature down somehow, it may yet live.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28The seven-week-old chick is already recovering.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35But his bony little body means he won't survive without immediate medical care.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44Will the busy hospital have room for one more overheated penguin chick?
0:08:44 > 0:08:49In conditions like these it's first in, first served.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50- Hello.- Hey, mate.
0:08:50 > 0:08:56Even off-duty rangers have come in to help with the influx of heat-stricken animals.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59We have an overheated, very small penguin here.
0:08:59 > 0:09:00Just underweight at the moment?
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Well, overheated I think. Also very light, quite possibly underweight.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08This is the most penguins that we've ever had in the hospital.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Yesterday, there were about 40.
0:09:11 > 0:09:17We lost a few last night. I think we're between 35 and 40 penguins.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20So that's a lot.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23And you can see there that the flippers are stretched out
0:09:23 > 0:09:27and its little legs are facing out backwards, which is not a good sign.
0:09:29 > 0:09:36First, emergency hydration, then straight to the cool room to get that body temperature down.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40A nice spot for it, in with the fruit and veggies.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45That'd be lucky, maybe 400g?
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Write a note on my desk, "Don't forget the penguin in the cool room!"
0:09:49 > 0:09:55With so many penguin patients, they've used all the colours for identity tags.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59We have to actually record what medicines they have and how much they eat.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02So we use these little different coloured ribbons,
0:10:02 > 0:10:08and we've got that many birds at the moment that we're running out of combinations.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13Jan's the smartest here by a long way, so she's going to have to decide which colours.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18Just choose one - and this sounds awful - choose one of the ones that died this morning.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20- That's what I said. - It's really morbid.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37After a couple of hours, the refrigerated chick is let out into the penguin ward.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Ha, that's one thoroughly chilled out penguin!
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Marg Healy now takes over his care.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Squeak, squeak.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53You poor little chick. Come on.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56They've picked out a colour for the one they thought was a goner.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Mauve.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02He's now known simply as Mauve.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04560...
0:11:04 > 0:11:06this chick is so thin.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10And this noise is a starving chick noise.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12But hopefully we can fix it.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18Penguins don't drink for themselves, they get all their fluid from food,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22so if they're not eating well they dehydrate very quickly.
0:11:22 > 0:11:28Mauve can't possibly survive in the wild in his undernourished state.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32His only hope is if Marg can build up his body weight.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38That means force-feeding him five or six sardines twice a day.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43Um, I give him over a 50% chance now that's he's turned the corner a bit.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46There's a pool for rehabilitating penguins.
0:11:46 > 0:11:53Mauve will get his first swim here, but not till he is a bit bigger and his feathers are waterproof.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59He'll be put back in a nest box near where he was found.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Hopefully then he'll be strong enough to head out to sea.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Still no break in the heat wave.
0:12:14 > 0:12:20In fact, it just keeps getting hotter.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29By 2:35pm the temperature in Melbourne, only 43 miles away
0:12:29 > 0:12:35as the crow flies, hits 115.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41At that moment there is nowhere hotter on the planet.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48Bushfires are raging across the state of Victoria.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52The day will later be known as Black Saturday,
0:12:52 > 0:12:58when 173 human and thousands of animal lives were lost.
0:13:02 > 0:13:08Unfortunately for Sammy, his burrow is more exposed than most.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Now he's started to hyperventilate,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16the last stage before a penguin collapses.
0:13:16 > 0:13:22If he can only make it to nightfall, when the temperature should drop a bit.
0:13:25 > 0:13:31The two chicks under the holiday house are much better off, with good shelter from the sun.
0:13:32 > 0:13:38They spend the day tucked well away under the Wagners' downstairs laundry.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46In the hospital, it's not just penguins struggling
0:13:46 > 0:13:51but native animals you'd expect to be able to cope with extreme heat.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Marg tries to hydrate a baby possum.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06He's fallen from his mother's pouch
0:14:06 > 0:14:09and was found staggering on the beach.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11No, you're not going to help are you, sweetheart?
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I know, I know, it's not fun.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Come on, sweetheart, work with me.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20That's right. That's right.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26This is the hottest that we've ever had
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and they literally are dropping out of the trees,
0:14:29 > 0:14:34they literally are, and that poor little creature was down in the salt water trying to drink.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39So it's too hot, it's unusually hot, and it is a worry.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45So no, they don't know how to deal, I don't think, with this amount of continual heat.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50I think they can do a day or two, but give them a third day and it's all a little bit much.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52It's all a bit much.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53Oh.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Just another one. I think it's nearly...
0:15:00 > 0:15:03we're close to 40 penguins in here now, then.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06500g.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10So he's about half what he should be, probably.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25He's not too bad, so he should be OK, with a bit of luck.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34In two hours, the penguin parade opens for tourists.
0:15:36 > 0:15:42But right now, the heat seems to have brought deathly quiet.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Just when they thought they'd made it to the end of this demanding day,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51someone reports another penguin casualty.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57A full grown adult this time.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00In a desperate attempt to reach water
0:16:00 > 0:16:05he went the wrong way and ended up outside the tourist centre.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10At 5pm on a Saturday it's going to be hard to find anyone to help.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13There's a penguin out the back that's not looking very well.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Look at that. He can't even get up and walk.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Oh, God.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33It's just a bit hot.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36- That's not our chick, is it? - No, it's an adult.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Oh, mate.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47It's too far to take him back down to the sea.
0:16:47 > 0:16:53They do their best to cool him in the staffroom till a senior ranger takes more drastic action.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55No, mate, he's nearly dead.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03Carol, can you grab me the key, please. This bird's about to die.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Ranger Rebecca Overy knows what this penguin needs most is a drink,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12which means getting the hydration equipment from the hospital,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14now closed for the night.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20This is like a sports drink for animals.
0:17:29 > 0:17:30No.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40No, we lost him.
0:17:40 > 0:17:41But it's too late.
0:17:41 > 0:17:47Rebecca can't save him. Once they've ventured out of their
0:17:47 > 0:17:52burrows in searing heat like this, nine out of ten won't make it.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00An evening sea breeze brings a welcome cool to Phillip Island.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10The first busload of tourists has arrived for the evening's penguin parade.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13They drive right past Sammy's burrow.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Amazingly, he is still alive.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23Sammy has survived the hottest day in living memory.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28But if his parents don't come to feed him soon
0:18:28 > 0:18:32he'll have to risk going to sea and finding food himself.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53A week later, the heat wave has passed and Mauve is now 1.3kg.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58Marg has fattened him up enough to survive in the wild and have his first swim.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13As soon as they get their head under they suddenly go, "Oh, my life is complete."
0:19:20 > 0:19:26They often just circle the pool for hours on end. I mean, it must be like from, I don't know,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29riding a pushbike to riding a Grand Prix motorbike, in some ways.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47He's a really good weight and he knows how to swim
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and so I'm thinking, yeah, he'll work it all out.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55It's his last day of accommodation with breakfast included.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00In a few moments he'll be released near where he was found.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03PENGUIN CHIRPS AND SQUEAKS
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Mauve swaps his ribbon for a microchip to track his movements...
0:20:07 > 0:20:08Beautiful.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10..and gets a new name.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14There you go. It's very boring. It's 6C9729D.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25He's probably absolutely terrified,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28a kind of, "Now what?"
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Nobody home?
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Perfect.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42OK, sweetie, you're a wild penguin again.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Now, the ocean's that way, OK?
0:20:45 > 0:20:50This is where you're living now and hopefully you'll come back to here, not the hospital, OK?
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Concentrate.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Right, stay in there. In you go.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01With a bit of good sense, this time around he'll stay out of the sun.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03At least, that's the theory.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07It's one little obstacle to stop coming out during the daytime.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19You probably could see it.
0:21:19 > 0:21:25It's really hard, but I think it's just over there.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Meanwhile, Stan and Sparky wait for dark before emerging
0:21:29 > 0:21:32from their hideaway under the Wagners' beach house.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48By the time the Wagner kids have had dinner and turned in for the night,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52the chicks downstairs are getting ready for their parents
0:21:52 > 0:21:55to bring home another slap-up feed.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02Stan's flippers are now ten centimetres long and quite ready for swimming.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07He really should be off feeding himself by now, not sponging off Mum and Dad.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Although the brothers were born within a day of each other,
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Sparky's fluff shows he still has some growing to do.
0:22:18 > 0:22:25So, if a parent does come home tonight, it's important he gets some nutrition first.
0:22:27 > 0:22:34Sammy too, waits near his burrow in case of one last feed.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38But it's a faint hope when his parents have been gone so long.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00A well-fed female is one of the first ashore at the parade beach.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Could this be Sammy's mum?
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Or Stan and Sparky's?
0:23:14 > 0:23:16There's no time for a curtain call tonight.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21This mum joins the rush-hour traffic to head straight to her chicks.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29It's 600 yards from here to the burrows, where the hungry kids are waiting.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33With fish in her stomach for some lucky chick,
0:23:33 > 0:23:39she shuffles through the car park, giving the coaches a wide berth.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Patience doesn't come easily to young Sparky and Stan.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51CHIRPING
0:23:51 > 0:23:56The food isn't even here yet, and the two brothers are already winding each other up.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Nearly home, the returning mum turns onto the coast road.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Just got to wait for the traffic leaving the parade.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Sparky notices something at the bottom of the garden.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35It's Mum!
0:24:35 > 0:24:40The ensuing food fights are a nightly show for Karen Wagner.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Here come the chicks out of the burrow. Their mum beat the rush.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Sparky gets in first.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Stan immediately tries to elbow him out of the way.
0:25:13 > 0:25:19Not sure which is worse - penguins mating or penguins feeding.
0:25:19 > 0:25:20Shut up!
0:25:21 > 0:25:27As a parent, I don't know if I'd spend all day just to get their food
0:25:27 > 0:25:31to come back and have them harass me for the next 12 hours, when you...
0:25:31 > 0:25:32well, maybe children do that.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36FRANTIC CHIRPING AND SQUEAKING
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Further along the cliffs, plenty of adults stream by.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00But no-one stops to feed Sammy.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08It seems his parents are never coming back.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10It's crunch time for Sammy.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18In the early hours of the morning, he takes the most important step of his life.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21He heads down to the water.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31He follows other penguins in the pre-dawn stampede to the beach.
0:26:48 > 0:26:54With no-one to teach them to swim, chicks entering the water for the first time
0:26:54 > 0:26:57experiment with stroke techniques.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01It's now or never for Sammy.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09He takes one last look at the colony where he spent his first eight action-packed weeks.
0:27:17 > 0:27:23In just a few moments he'll start a whole new life in Australia's Southern Ocean.
0:27:24 > 0:27:30It's turning into a tough season, and there's still a month of summer to go.
0:27:32 > 0:27:39Next on Penguin Island, new technology shows us just what penguins get up to out at sea.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46Perennial bachelor Rocky finally finds a mate,
0:27:46 > 0:27:52but should he be starting a family when late season chicks rarely survive?
0:27:52 > 0:27:56And Marg gets her most difficult patient yet.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59- He's very lively, this guy. - He's just attacking everything.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:25 > 0:28:28E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk