Animals
Photographer Captures Moment Two Widowed Penguins Enjoy Beautiful Skyline Together
A photographer managed to capture a tender moment between two widowed penguins comforting each other.
(TMU) — Wildlife photographer Tobias Baumgaertner was fortunate to witness and photograph a sweet and tender moment between two penguins last year, seemingly comforting each other as they looked out at the night lights.
Although Tobias took the photograph in St Kilda, a Melbourne suburb, in 2019, he only shared the photo on his Instagram page last month, explaining that the pair had apparently lost their partners and were watching the dancing lights of Melbourne together.
The images went viral after being shared on Twitter recently.
Tobias wrote on his post: “During times like this the truly lucky ones are those that can be with the person/people they love most. I captured this moment about a year ago.
“These two Fairy penguins poised upon a rock overlooking the Melbourne skyline were standing there for hours, flipper in flipper, watching the sparkling lights of the skyline and ocean.
“A volunteer approached me and told me that the white one was an elderly lady who had lost her partner and apparently so did the younger male to the left. Since then they meet regularly comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city.
“I spent three full nights with this penguin colony until I was able to get this picture. Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other’s backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot but I got lucky during one beautiful moment. I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did.”
Tobias definitely has the patience and ‘never-quit’ attitude needed to capture that once in a lifetime shot. The image got over 125,000 likes in one day, and more than 39,000 retweets when image was shared on Twitter with the caption: “Couldn’t stop thinking about these penguins enjoying the Melbourne skyline together so I found the original photographer and apparently they’re BOTH WIDOWED I can’t handle it.”
You’ll find the penguin photo and his other wildlife and nature photographs on Tobias’ Instagram page which are also available as prints to order via direct message or email.
Fairy, or Little penguins (Eudyptula minor) are the smallest of all penguin species, weigh around 2.2lb (1kg) and roughly 13 inches (33cm) tall. Males generally weigh a bit more than females and the female has a thinner, sharper beak than the male. These are the only penguins with blue and white feathers rather than black and white feathers, with grey beaks and pink feet.
These penguins spend 80% of their lives at sea swimming, feeding and breeding in colonies along the southern coastlines of Australia and New Zealand. Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia is home to an estimated 32,000 breeding adults. After their daily swim and foraging, they return to their nesting burrows to breed, raise their chicks, take a break after days or weeks at sea and to molt.
Unlike most penguins, little penguins do not mate for life and researchers at Phillip Island Nature Parks have recorded divorce rates for little penguins of between 18% and 50% annually. They may look for a new mate if the breeding success is low. They lay two eggs, about the size of chicken eggs, and both parents take turns to incubate them over about 35 days.
Both parents also feed the chicks who, at around 7-11 weeks of age, leave their parents and head out to sea.
By Jade Small | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
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