I went to see a very nice film this weekend – The March of the Penguins - it is a wonderful film about Emperor Penguins and their long treks over the Antarctic ice to procreate. The story of these wonderful animals is amazing and it is told with equally amazing photography.
The penguin’s story is so heroic - the long trek across the ice in single file to the place they were born, the finding of a mate, the protection of the egg and then the chick from the cold, and the long treks back to the sea to get food. The really amazing bit is the male’s role in keeping the eggs protected from the cold by huddling together in a group with the eggs balanced on their feet while storms rage around them. They keep this up without food for much of the Antarctic winter while the females go off to find food.
You cannot help but anthropomorphize these animals; they suffer all kinds of hardships and deprivations in one of the most hostile environments. They struggle through all this with great resolve, a little humor (at least it appears so to us humans), a lot of love and often some sadness and at the end of it all there is a cute little penguin covered in downy feathers.
Highly recommended to anyone.
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