Today, I'd like to focus on penguins; more particularly how little baby penguins come into the world. Male penguins are amazing. I mean, completely and utterly amazing. THEY'RE SO DEDICATED! Now don't get me wrong, I mean, when giving birth the actual baby penguin POPS OUT OF THE MUMMA PENGUIN'S VAGINA (that still trips me out, I was formed in my mumma's stomach... I cannot get my head around that)
Little penguin: Yo man, I feel your pain. I totally came out of an egg, too!
The penguin egg-cycle, told by Rica:
HELLO BABY PENGUIN EGG, WELCOME TO THE WORLD!
So, after the penguins mate, the mummy penguin lays their eggs on the ice before Winter... And then shit gets real. The mumma penguins abandon the daddy penguin and the egg for the following two-four months or so to go get super fat so that she has enough energy to start the process all over again. Then DADDY penguin is stuck with his little, fragile egg STORED BETWEEN HIS FEET IN -40 DEGREE (CELSIUS) WEATHER FOR THIS TIME.
If that, is not a display of TOTAL AND UTTER NATURAL BAD-ASSERY then I sure as hell don't know what is.
WINTER IS COMING
This is where the famous "penguin huddle" comes into play. All of the male penguins in the colony huddle together to face the icy weather and winds (with their little babies-to-be still nestled carefully down in-between their feet). As the daddy penguins on the outside of the group get cold, the whole row will move down wind til they are at the bottom of the group. This way, they are guaranteed a spot in the middle... Which can get SUPER toasty-- all the way up to 24 degrees!
This is freakin' beautiful... But I can imagine the daddy penguins would not be happy. During these four months, THEY DO NOT EAT AT ALL, AND PURELY SUBSIST ON THEIR ALREADY OBTAINED FAT STORES. Imagine how they would feel when the mumma penguins rock up months later just like, 'Mmm, food. Me gusta.' You'd think the dad would be like '>:(', but no. They accept their duty, like TRUE BADASSES, and get on with it.
DADDY DAYCARE
In the day time, while they are waiting for the mummy to come back (this is my favourite bit) they form little penguin DAY CARES with groups of baby penguins for ease :') And oh my god, they then formulate a milk-like substance in the back of their throat, and feed their baby penguins while they wait for their mummy to come back!
SINGING PENGUINS
FINALLY, the mummy penguin returns. Now, there are HUNDREDS of penguins in one colony (for defense purposes amongst other things). How the hell does the mummy FIND her family?
...
...
...
...
Through song.
IT'S LIKE FREAKING HAPPY FEET. Each penguin family has its own unique song it sings to find each other in a crowd of seemingly identical penguins :') That's where the hollywood-esque scene ends, though. I can imagine the reunion: the daddy penguin, half its original size, battered, and pissed off. The mummy penguins, fat, happy, and penguin-like. Oh, what a sight! The daddy penguin then gets to go out for a few days (their life isn't as awesome as the months of debauchery afforded to the mumma penguins), indulge, then jump straight back in to being a full-time dad and babysitter; the mummy and daddy taking turns going out to forage for baby food.
AND, A DEPRESSING REALITY
Do you feel all happy inside? Well... I am about to put a slight dampener on that! (I apologise, I just really cannot help myself) THOUSANDS of penguins during this huddling process are killed each year through literally FREEZING to death because of the unnatural amounts of winter rain that occur due to global warming... caused by US. HUMANS. AHHHHHH. So... When the mumma penguin comes back, super duper excited that she is going to find her family, she sings, and sings, and sings... And the song is never reciprocated. A lone tune.
And that kids, is why global warming is bad. Respect your environment, unless you want to be a penguin murderer.
And also why penguins make me so freaking happy. Ahhh. <3
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