Emperor Penguins Take Accidental Selfie After Discovering Camera In Antarctica

Jun 21, 2020 by apost team

Have you ever opened up your camera app and found it set to the front camera when you weren't expecting it? If so, you might be able to report to these two Emperor penguins, who managed to take an accidental selfie while poking around an explorer's equipment at a penguin rookery in Antarctica.

Auster Rookery, the site of the unexpected photo shoot, is a colony of breeding penguins in Antarctica that is located on sea ice surrounded by grounded icebergs. There are numerous such colonies on the continent, some containing as many as 20,000 birds. In total, there were approximately 238,000 breeding pairs of Emperor penguins in Antarctica in 2012, reports PEW.

On the day in question, an Australian explorer named Eddie Gault was visiting Auster Rookery, hoping to photograph the penguins before night fell. Eddie was in the midst of setting up his filming equipment and had his back turned to his camera when the curious duo wandered over. According to NPR, the curious birds knocked over the camera. Luckily, it landed face up and continued to film. 

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In the resulting video, one bird’s body enters the shot first, followed by the other's. Both look straight into the camera, likely wondering what sort of strange contraption it could be. Next thing he knew, the would-be photographer had a photo, just like he’d wanted–except he wasn’t the one who took it!

The lucky explorer later said the birds are “naturally curious” and that they “seize[d] the opportunity for a selfie.” The video has gone viral, with over 15,000 likes on Twitter, 5,000 shares on Facebook, and nearly 30,000 views on YouTube.

The penguin duo involved in this adorable incident are members of a species The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers “Near Threatened.” While this means that, thankfully, their population numbers are currently stable they are not in as immediate danger of extinction as other species of penguins like the Galapagos penguins, they still face a serious threat from climate change.

Climate change is a concern for these endearing flightless birds primarily because they depend upon the ice that forms their natural habitat, which is in danger of melting if average temperatures continue to rise. Furthermore, Emperor penguins feed almost exclusively upon krill, small crustaceans that are currently found in all the world’s oceans. Krill populations are currently on the decline because the ice that houses the algae they eat is receding due to climate change, which could in turn affect Emperor penguins and other species.

If you want to play a role in these adorable creatures’ continued survival, you can start by doing all you can to reduce carbon emissions in your day-to-day life. Walking, biking, and using energy-efficient public transport options instead of driving is one way you can help. You can also invest in renewable energy like solar panels, or even just choose to buy locally grown food rather than items imported from far away. 

What did you think of these silly, camera-loving penguins? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this article along to your animal loving friends!