On a wing and a prayer! Watch the nail-biting moment hundreds of baby penguins jump from a 50ft ice cliff in Antarctica for their first ever swim - and miraculously survive from bank colony Watch Video

⏲ Duration: 4:32
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✓ Published: 13-Apr-2024

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Incredible new footage has revealed the nail-biting moment hundreds of baby penguins jumped off a 50ft ice cliff in Antarctica. <br/><br/>A National Geographic film crew was visiting Atka Bay on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf, when they spotted approximately 700 emperor penguin chicks gathering at the edge of a cliff. <br/><br/>To their amazement, the chicks began to leap from the summit, before smashing into the icy ocean waters below. <br/><br/>Thankfully, the chicks emerged from the stunt unscathed. <br/><br/>'This spectacular, heart-stopping moment has been witnessed by scientists before, but this is the first time the rare behavior has been filmed for television,' National Geographic explained. <br/><br/>Antarctica is home to 66 known Emperor penguin colonies, who usually breed and raise their chicks in the winter. <br/><br/>Every January, when the chicks are around five months old, they undergo a process known as fledging. <br/><br/>During this process, the chicks lose their baby feathers and leave their colony for the first time, travelling to the ocean to take their first swim. <br/><br/>Surprisingly, this swimming lesson takes place without the supervision of any adult penguins. <br/><br/>'This is when they are essentially learning how to swim,' said Sara Labrousse, a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. <br/><br/>'That's not something that their parents teach them.<br/><br/>'When they first go in the water, they are very awkward and unsure of themselves. They are not the fast and graceful swimmers their parents are.' <br/><br/>