I "Dare to Explore": National Geographic Documentary is “Ice” –Breaking…Emperors of the Ice Brings Chills and Laughter

It started with a march, then a pair of happy feet. What is it about those little tuxedo wearing penguins that has us so fascinated that we make movies about them? Maybe it’s how they waddle when they walk or the creative way they slide across the ice, or that crazy sound they make. Whatever it is, we just cannot seem to get out fill of these little creatures. They just make us smile.

In National Geographic’s ice-breaking documentary Emperors of the Ice, a little emperor penguin named Rodney is about to become one really special flightless bird...but that is a story for later. Now, we are off to meet Jerry Kooyman, oceanographer and emperor penguin expert, and his team of scientists. They are packing up their survival gear and their camcorders and setting off for the frigid continent of Antarctica where “it’s spring and the temperatures are rising to freezing” and where even today “it’s very easy to die.” Now, most of us remember the drama of March of the Penguins and the humor of Happy Feet, but who would have thought that a documentary on the everyday lifestyles of an emperor penguin could be both chillingly dramatic and laugh-out-loud funny? National Geographic did. It must have taken some serious creativity, but Emperors of the Ice is cute, fun, and informative. A theatrical musical score almost dictates emotions; you hold your breath when a leopard seal is near, smile happily when the new chicks take their first plunge into the ocean, and laugh aloud when the penguins slip and fall on the ice. It is hard not to stare in awe as the parents find their chick in a “nameless crowd,” and when mating season begins suddenly we find ourselves watching an Antarctic soap opera.

But what makes Emperors of the Ice stand out is this: no one has ever actually seen how an emperor penguin hunts since there is no way of getting a complete and perfect view of their hunting grounds under the ice. That was before the innovation of National Geographic’s very own “Crittercam,” a tiny camera worn by the animal that gives you their view of the world. That is why Rodney is such an important little penguin. Rodney will not only be the smallest marine animal to wear the camera; he will also be the first emperor penguin to do so, and by sporting his

new gear, Rodney will give both science and the world the first look at how an emperor penguin catches its prey. And what he brings back is an eye-popping, scientific breakthrough.

I came across Emperors of the Ice by accident just a week ago while surfing National Geographic’s videos on You Tube. I watched it the same night and got sucked in…though not initially. Some of the talk about global climate change had me tuning it out; it is not that I deny climate change is real and happening, and I do in fact care that this is a serious problem, but something about the topic just makes my mind shut it out and go off in about a million directions. But, regardless, I would watch this documentary again and again. What can I say…the penguins are just too fun!

(All my love to our little explorer, Rodney!)