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emperor butterfly penguin chicks have been recorded throw themselves from a 50 - metrical unit ( 15 meters ) drop-off in Antarctica for the first time .
The " unprecedented " footage , captured at Atka Bay in Northern Antarctica , show about 700 fledglings braving a see-through drop curtain to embark on their first swim in the sea below .
A colony of emperor penguins on the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica.
" I had no idea that the chicks would be capable to make such a elephantine jump , and not just survive but happily swim off together into the Southern Ocean,“Bertie Gregory , the filmmaker who captured the footage for National Geographic , said in the video . " How ’s that for your first swimming lesson ? "
Related:4 never - before - get a line emperor penguin colonies discovered in Antarctica , thanks to dirt smears spotted from outer space
Antarctica ’s sea ice has been slump since 2016 . What does that mean for Earth ’s mood ?
Read more :
— ' 2023 just blow everything off the chart ' : Antarctic sea sparkler hits troubling low for third consecutive class
— flop of the West Antarctic ice sheet is ' unavoidable , ' study bump
— Antarctic sea ice reached ' record - smashing gloomy ' last calendar month
Though it has been observe by scientists before , the conduct is unusual . The clip was filmed for National Geographic ’s miniseries " arcanum of the Penguins . "
Typically , Emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri ) rear their young on free floating platforms of ocean glass that blow from the crank shelf before slowly melt every yr . When Emperor penguin fledglings reach the geezerhood of 5 months old , they lose their babe feathers and enter the pee from a space of roughly one or two groundwork ( 0.3 to 0.6 m ) .
But arecent and unprecedented declinein this ice has led scientist to suppose that it could be forcing the penguin to move onto the cliffs . The young penguin , motivated by hunger , must now make the dangerous plunge into the water to feed .
To appropriate the fledglings ' arresting leap of religious belief , the researchers used a tv camera drone that rent them shoot the uncommon conduct from the air without disturbing the penguin .
Until of late , Antarctic sea meth fluctuate between comparatively stable summer minimums and winter upper limit . But stick to a record lower limit in 2016 , things begin to change . Two record David Low presently follow , including the modest minimum ever in February 2023 at just737,000 square miles(1.91 million square kilometers ) . As wintertime get in March 2023 , the continent was overleap a chunk of ice heavy than Western Europe .
" As a research community , we ’ve struggled to even describe how unusual the variety is . multitude throw around Son like ' unprecedented ' or ' gobsmacked ' or ' unbelievable',“Edward Doddridge , a icy researcher who mold on climate models for the region , told Live Science . " For a while we were essay to expend statistics to say that it was a one in many thousands or millions of years event ; then we got into 1000000000000 and even into tens of trillion of years , " he added . " At some point along the way , you just have to realize that the statistics are n’t useful to realize this anymore . "
The decline in the water ice has already had a profound effect on the area ’s penguins . chiliad of Emperor penguin chickswere found dead in West Antarctica in 2022 , with scientists expecting to regain even more deaths from 2023 .
" Secrets of the Penguins " will premiere on National Geographic next year .
For more awful Earth Month content , contain out the ourHOME compendium on Disney+ . Learn more about the historical penguin leap atNatGeo.com .
