The Emperor Penguin March

The coastal Antarctic water that provides the penguins' only food source is also home to predators. This make breeding in areas near the coast too risky for the penguins. So each winter, the Emperor penguins gather and march single-file, seventy miles inland. They will breed in the darkest and coldest place on Earth, far from predators.

The penguins march one-by-one in a long line of swaying, wobbling silhouettes against a landscape entombed in ice. When they arrive at their breeding ground, they will pair off and mate. Females lay one egg each. They later hand off the eggs to the males to be incubated in their brood pouches. The males will balance the eggs on the tops of their feet, for 64 consecutive days until hatching. Meanwhile, the females return to the sea where they must feed to replenish their body weight, much reduced after producing the egg.