Belly Flop! Watch Penguin Chicks Plunge, Plummet, and Plop off Huge Ice Cliffs » Explorersweb – GWC Mag

Nobody knew why some six-month-old emperor penguin chicks routinely marched toward 15-meter cliffs in Antarctica.

Most of their peers waddled up to low curbs of ice to contemplate their first swims, but these flightless young souls went where eagles dare. They stared into the void, then committed their pudgy, downy frames to it.

The capable Bertie Gregory captures and narrates the action. Some plump jumpers actually dive with varying degrees of grace. Others just flail.

Whether you call it a swimming lesson or a lemming imitation, it’s decidedly the cutest of either I’ve ever seen.