01x02 - Survival of the Smartest

[bunniefuu]

[wind]

[Narrator] Far beyond

ice and snow

in strange and distant lands,

a few intrepid penguins

[wave crashing]

choose to live

.where we might

think they don't belong.

-It just feels like such a

ridiculous place to be looking

for a penguin.

[Narrator] Four different

species of banded penguins.

-Okay, here's good, here's good.

[Narrator] Two years

uncovering their secrets

-No way.

They're working as a team.

[Narrator] Reveals these

penguins might be the smartest

of them all.

-That's one of the best things

I've ever seen in nature.

[Narrator] They're

problem solvers

architects

teachers.

-Oh, this is super cute.

A little one trying to learn.

[Narrator] And as their

world collides with ours,

they take their intelligence

to a whole new level.

[theme music playing]

[gentle music playing]

[Narrator] This mother

has lessons to share.

Life hacks to pass to

the next generation,

how to live in the tropics.

She's a Galápagos penguin,

part of the

banded penguin family.

Named for the

stripe on their chest.

They use their unique

intelligence to live in a

mysterious world on the equator.

[penguin footsteps approaching]

She's one of just 2,000

Galápagos penguins,

the rarest penguins

in the world,

and at just 20 inches tall,

among the smallest.

[snort]

Her neighbors are

odd but tolerant.

And the 80-degree temperature?

Not a problem.

Her featherless pink

patches release heat.

Her issue in this

warming climate

is getting enough food.

-One of the biggest challenges

these penguins have got

is that the currents are

really unpredictable,

so they've got to work really,

really hard to find fish.

[Narrator] National

Geographic explorer

and cinematographer

Bertie Gregory has heard

they've devised

hunting techniques not

seen anywhere else.

[playful music playing]

[playful music playing]

[Bertie Gregory]

It is so interesting.

And this penguin is

spending so much of her time

swimming along,

looking round above her head,

she's totally

watching the pelicans,

and as soon as she

sees a pelican go down,

she zooms over.

Let's see what's going on here.

[whimsical music playing]

This pelican's massive mouth's

full of water and fish,

it's got to push that

water out of its mouth and

hold onto the fish,

and that's the point

at which they're vulnerable.

Penguin's going for it.

No way, stealing fish right

out the beak of the pelican.

[Narrator] And it's

not just the mother who

knows this trick.

[Bertie Gregory] The

penguins have totally got

this figured out, you know,

a way to work smarter,

not harder.

What's magic is seeing

lots of young penguins in

with the older penguins.

They can't hatch out their

eggs knowing how to do this,

they must have to learn it by

watching the older penguins.

[Narrator] And that's what

the mother's four-month-old son

has been doing.

[Bertie Gregory] Oh,

this is super cute,

he's trying to learn.

This pelican has taken off,

oh, it's gonna dive

right in front of it.

[distant splash]

[Bertie laughs]

He's like, "I don't

know what to do yet."

[splash]

This little penguin has

got a lot of learning to do.

Well, it looks like

he's full of attitude,

so I reckon he's got it in him.

[Narrator] But right now, his

mother has another priority

she's heard something.

[water vibrating]

Just off the coast

anchovies.

in the thousands.

As oceans get warmer,

an increasingly rare event.

The pair can't

afford to miss it.

[inquisitive music playing]

[Narrator] Bertie wants to

see if the Galápagos penguins

can make the most of

the feast that's arrived.

[Bertie Gregory]

We can see up ahead.

We got a bunch of

boobies and frigates,

a bunch of birds,

and that's always a good

sign that this fish underwater.

Okay, here's good, here's good.

[whimsical music playing]

[Narrator] Mom doesn't get

this opportunity very often.

Her boy has never

seen so many fish.

Little fish are tricky

to catch underwater,

and there's no time to

waste because the penguin's

flying neighbors

have the advantage.

[Bertie Gregory]

It's just chaos,

diving birds crashing

in from above,

and the two penguins look

completely overwhelmed.

[Narrator] They need backup.

So, Mom calls out

[penguin call]

for help.

[distant penguin call]

[distant penguin call]

[penguin call]

[distant penguin call]

New evidence suggests each

sound has a specific meaning,

and when

penguins spot fish,

the complexity of

their call changes,

making it easier for others

to pinpoint their location.

Team assembled.

They deploy a coordinated

form of hunting,

usually only seen in

highly intelligent mammals,

like dolphins.

One unit dives,

blocking the bottom,

driving the fish upwards.

Others swim near the surface,

herding them into

a dense bait ball.

The fish are

disoriented and panic,

making them easy to pick off.

[Bertie Gregory] When there

was just two penguins,

they were having to work

really hard to catch fish,

but the moment the whole

g*ng arrived and there were

20, 30 penguins, suddenly,

they were having

a much easier time.

[Narrator] The banded

penguins are the only ones

known to hunt this way.

They catch almost twice as

much food than when hunting

on their own.

The calorie equivalent

of four pizzas each.

[Bertie Gregory]

I've read about this,

but to actually see it play

out underwater right there.

The way they heard the

ball together is so clever.

[Narrator] But by

corralling the fish,

they've made it even

easier for their rivals.

Time for phase two.

As part of the

ball breaks off,

the penguins see

an opportunity.

[dramatic music playing]

[Bertie Gregory] The bait

ball is really shifting now,

it's rushing for shallow water,

heading into the

mouth of the mangrove,

the penguins

are right behind him.

[Narrator] They herd

the fish into a channel

just ten inches deep,

where they

have the advantage.

It's a crash course in

outsmarting the competition.

[Bertie Gregory] It's

just amazing to see them use

the lava landscape,

has lots of big cracks

that the penguins can drive

fish into and single them out.

Clever bunch of little penguins.

I've seen penguins do

some pretty amazing things,

but that was definitely the top.

[Narrator] By using their

intelligence and passing life

lessons down to

the next generation,

Galápagos penguins

are holding on in

a changing environment.

[upbeat music playing]

[Narrator] The ancestors of

these banded penguins

[penguin call]

followed currents

to a different continent.

They're African penguins,

four inches bigger

and a lot noisier than

their Galápagos cousins.

But they're also

the most endangered.

Those that remain are

more reliant on their smarts

than ever before.

[uplifting music playing]

[penguin calls]

This g*ng,

technically called a waddle,

grew up together on this beach.

He meant to do that.

And that.

At five, they're

still young adults,

but they already have

responsibilities.

Some live right here

on the beachfront,

digging nests to keep cool

in the South African sun.

But with less than

half an acre of beach,

it gets overcrowded.

So, the really clever

ones choose a place with

a little more style.

Simonstown, a leafy

suburb of Cape Town.

40 years ago,

penguins saw its

potential as a safe haven,

now 2,000 live here.

This guy's rewired his

natural instincts for the city.

Like his Galápagos cousins,

he's smart enough

to make his neighbors

work for him.

They make great paths

and they keep predators away.

But there are other dangers

he's learned to deal with.

He seems to have memorized

when the rush hour hits,

so he can time his

journey to beat it.

With eyesight evolved

for deep sea diving,

he can see in the dark,

navigating the

safest shortcuts.

[bus horn]

And if necessary, he

can reroute in an instant.

[gentle music playing]

All the way to his front door.

[gentle music playing]

Home sweet home,

where his partner

[baby penguins chirping]

and their

one-week-old twins are waiting.

[baby penguin wails]

But being a penguin in a

human world can push their

problem-solving

skills to the limit.

[gentle music playing]

[Narrator] Up Africa's

western coast,

another African

penguin colony is clinging on

against the odds.

This couple works hard

for what they have.

They've been together

their entire adult life,

and they're about

to have a family.

But raising chicks here in

90-degree heat isn't easy.

When their

ancestors lived here,

it was covered in guano,

bird poop.

120 feet deep.

Penguins used to dig out

burrows in it to protect their

eggs from the sun,

but when people discover

guano makes good fertilizer,

it was taken on

an industrial scale.

Once 100,0000

penguins nested here,

now, around 1,000 remain.

Without the

protection of guano,

not only are eggs

and chicks exposed to

the relentless heat,

but if parents get too hot,

they have to

abandon their nests.

This father-to-be has

spotted something

that could save the day.

[upbeat music playing]

Seaweed might help

shade the nest

almost as well as

vintage poop.

Suddenly, everyone

wants a piece of it,

but there's always one

who sticks his beak in

where it doesn't belong.

[squawking and thudding]

[growls loudly]

No one steals

from these two.

They're ready,

and just in time.

That was the easy part.

Their challenge is

to keep the egg at

a constant temperature.

But with a changing planet,

they are increasingly

hit by extreme heat waves.

It will be 40 days

before they know

if they've succeeded.

These penguins bring inventive

solutions to modern problems.

Others rely on ancient

wisdom to survive.

[wave crashing]

[Narrator] In the

powerful waters off the

West Coast of Africa,

this youngster

has been separated

from his hunting party,

and being alone makes

you an easy target

on this desolate coast.

[suspenseful music playing]

Stretching over 1,000 miles

barren, arid and

swarming with predators.

No place for a penguin,

but they found a way

to make this cave home.

His elders all made

it back to shore,

but he's been

spotted by a jackal.

He's given away

their secret hideout.

But his ancestors chose

this home for a reason.

[waves crashing]

The turbulent entry

takes some getting used to,

but for jackals, it's

out of the question.

Outsmarted by a bird brain.

These penguins,

never filmed before,

have been raising chicks

right under the jackal's

nose for decades.

He can now focus

on his real quest,

finding love.

Single females are

few and far between.

Because, like many penguins,

African penguin

couples stay together for life.

But a tall nesting tower

might just catch a lady's eye.

Made from mud and well,

old bird poop,

his tower has been

passed down generations.

His job is to build

it up, high as he can.

It might keep their

future eggs safe when the

tide rushes in.

Looks like his renovation

might just have worked.

Ooh, she's keen.

[whimsical music playing]

[inspirational music playing]

[distant penguin call]

[penguin call]

He celebrates in this ancient

cathedral with a song.

[penguin call]

This might be a

unique dialect sung

nowhere else on earth.

[distant penguin calls]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Narrator] Back

on Halifax Island,

it's been a rough six weeks

for the seaweed king and queen,

but they've made it.

Their little son is born.

[baby penguin squawking]

His super food diet of

anchovies and sardines boosts

not just his body but his brain.

He'll grow 30 times in size

over the next two months.

[whimsical music playing]

Now a teenager,

he's smart enough to

face the world on his own,

even if he doesn't

realize it himself.

His parents know

he's got to go.

The school of life awaits.

He'll likely

live up to 20 years,

but for the first four,

he'll travel hundreds

of miles exploring

and above all, learning,

and scientists

believe this might be the

secret to the banded

penguin's success.

[upbeat music playing]

-Hola, Amigo.

You're still wearing

your pajamas.

Hola, Chica.

Como estas?

How are you today?

[Narrator] National Geographic

explorer and penguin scientist

Poppy Borboroglu

has devoted his life to

understanding the

banded penguins’ ways.

[Dr. Pablo Garcia Borboroglu]

Amigo, how are you?

Your tuxedo is in pieces.

[Narrator] These are

the Magellanic penguins,

the largest of all

the banded penguins.

This colony holds a special

place in Poppy's heart

because he's

witnessed its beginning.

15 years ago,

Poppy got a call.

-I was in my office one Monday

and then they said,

"Hey, Poppy,

can you come and check?

We think we have

penguins there."

And we came here, and

when we saw the first nest,

that was really unbelievable.

The first nests

were just in here,

there were three nests

here in the waterfront in

these main bushes.

[Narrator] Poppy was

even more surprised when he

discovered who

the newcomers were.

[Dr. Pablo Garcia Borboroglu]

They were all young individuals

from other colonies.

[Narrator] Some could have

travelled hundreds of miles

from southern Argentina.

[Dr. Pablo Garcia Borboroglu]

Imagine yourself selecting a

place for the first time,

the conditions are

completely unknown,

it's like colonizing Mars.

When we came here

for the first time,

there were

only the six pairs,

now we have

over 4,000 pairs.

[Narrator] And the key

to this successful colony

is these smart,

adventurous youngsters.

[Dr. Pablo Garcia Borboroglu]

Banded penguins spend

many years as juveniles,

so they have time to

explore different areas,

and that's what they've been

doing for millions of years.

[Narrator] Like their ancient

ancestors who left Antarctica,

the young banded penguins'

intelligence might help them

outsmart a changing world,

as the next generation

becomes the new guardians of

the penguin's secrets.