P-P-P pick me up please! Penguin jumps into boat to escape being eaten by leopard seal to the astonishment of camera crew filming BBC’s Blue Planet
- Remarkable footage shows a Adélie penguin leap out of the water and into a boat
- Animal was escaping a leopard seal that was stalking the penguins underwater
- Crew were filming for the BBC’s Planet Earth: Blue Planet II during the encounter
This is the moment a panicked penguin launched itself out of the ocean and into the boat during filming for the BBC’s Planet Earth: Blue Planet II.
Footage shows the animal appear from the water as it escapes a hungry leopard seal before scrambling away overboard just moments later.
The clip was filmed by the OceanX Media team, who spent ten weeks exploring the Northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
‘Part of the expedition was shooting footage with the BBC for Planet Earth: Blue Planet II, including filming the first manned submarine dive to more than 3,000ft in Antarctica,’ said the firm’s founder and creative director, Mark Dalio.
The OceanX Media crew were filming for the BBC’s Plane Earth: Blue Planet II when the bizarre encounter unfolded
Hilarious footage shows the animal leaping out of the water and taking crew members by surprise
The penguin was trying to escape a leopard seal that was stalking the animals underwater as they returned from feeding
‘The footage of that dive and the exotic marine life we found there can be seen in episode two of the series, “The Deep”.
‘I’ve never experienced anything like this.
‘Dr. Patrick Avery, who you can see almost getting hit, explained that there was a large leopard seal in the water around the boat that was hunting and eating penguins in front of the crew.
‘The penguins were all coming home to their colony to try to feed their chicks and were having to run the gauntlet.
‘Dr. Avery thought this Adélie penguin decided that it was probably a safer bet to jump on the boat than hang around in the sea with the seal but then got second thoughts once it landed in the boat!
The panicked penguin quickly regrets jumping into the vessel and scrambles around the boat looking for a way out
The animal clambers over the crew’s expensive equipment as it desperately searches for the ocean
One of the crew members can be seen trying to coax the animal out of the boat
‘It’s been really amazing to see the excitement around this video. At the end of the day, that’s our mission – to create content showcasing the wonders of the ocean and its many inhabitants so people get excited about and want to protect our oceans.’
Adélie penguins are a species common along the entire Antarctic coast, their only habitat.
They are among the most southerly distributed of all seabirds and are named after the territory of Adélie Land, which in turn is named after Adèle Dumont D’Urville, the wife of French explorer, Jules Dumont d’Urville, who discovered these penguins in 1840.
Their numbers are also soaring, with a 2014 analysis showing there are now 3.79 million breeding pairs of Adélie penguins, a 53 per cent increase from a similar census taken 20 years earlier.
Adélies are slightly smaller than most penguin species.
Eventually, the penguin manages to jump back into the ocean to rejoin its huge colony in the Antarctic
During their breeding season between October and February they are known to congregate in huge colonies of over half a million birds.
OceanX are a team of scientists, explorers and filmmakers driven to discover what lies beneath.
Their mission is to document the untold stories of the ocean, share them with the world, and let the wonders of our most precious ecosystem inspire people globally to connect with the ocean.
In addition to their recent 3,281ft dive and filming for the BBC, OceanX’s major milestones include capturing the first ever footage of the elusive giant squid in its deepwater home and discovering a new species of shark whilst filming in the Galapagos.
The MV Alucia is now the flagship of OceanX’s fleet and is arguably the most sophisticated ocean research vessel ever built, featuring manned subs, state-of-the-art laboratories and on-board helicopter, support boats and drones.
Source: Read Full Article
China's defence minister says conflict with US would be 'disaster'
Wagner mercenaries CAPTURE officer in Putin's regular army
Jetstar pilot stood down after traces of drugs allegedly found on luggage
Trans female MTA bus driver 'attacked in the women's locker room'
60 schoolgirls poisoned at a school in Afghanistan
Branching out: Readers reveal their favourite Melbourne trees
‘Not an honest and reliable witness’: Judge’s scathing assessment of Roberts-Smith
NRA director pays heartbreaking tribute to family killed in crash