PLANET EARTH Ice Worlds

Males begin to serenade（唱曲） and if a female replies they pair up（交/配）, posing like statues. New couples quickly form a strong bond they seem oblivious to the noisy crowd around them. To cement（加固） their relationship the male steps out with his female. The brief courtship（求偶） complete there isn't a moment to loose. With so much pressure to perform any male would struggle to stay on top.



Several weeks later and it seems that most couplings were successful but producing the egg has taken its toll（词组，付出代价）. The females no longer have the energy to incubate（孵化）. The male takes over. It's still minus 20 degrees centigrade, so the transfer must be done quickly or else the egg will freeze. With no bare rock to nest on the male tucks the egg into a special pouch（育儿袋） where he can keep it warm. It requires an extraordinary piece of teamwork.



Driven by hunger, the exhausted females now return to the ocean on their own repeating the epic journey they made with the males only a month before. Now the sun barely appears above the horizon. As the day shortens, it's warmth is withdrawn from the continent. With the females gone the colony undergoes a strange transformation. The males shuffle into groups, their eggs still tucked away above their feet. They lock together in tightly packed huddles as they struggle to keep warm. Speeding up the action reveals how these huddles constantly shift and change as each penguin works its way towards the warmer interior.