Snow Chick: A Penguin's Tale Page #2

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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.

He must find a safe passage out

by staying on solid ice.

To keep him in their sights, they spyhop.

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 minus 40 it's simply not enough.

And, unfortunately,

the other mothers care only for their own.

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

but her cries are lost on the wind.

At last he's found...

And not a moment too soon.

Within a few hours, the full force

of the storm engulfs the colony.

The chick may be safe

but as temperatures drop to minus 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 100km an hour winds lash the colony,

the penguins huddle together.

Sheltered from the storm,

they're snug at last.

But out on the ice, the lone father

is still paying the price for his mistake.

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.

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

practice 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.

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.

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.

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 learnt

a valuable lesson.

As spring continues, the melting ice

brings another new arrival.

The Adlie penguin.

A cocky character... very different

to the laid-back emperor.

Adlies 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!

When the Adlie 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!

Adlies 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 bulking up.

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 imposters,

her chick will go hungry.

He's hidden somewhere in the huddle.

To find him she must use

her unique and comforting call.

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!

At the ice-edge, a new invasion.

More Adlies!

Hundreds of them!

They're ready to breed

and nothing will stand in their way.

They time-share these breeding grounds

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